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Conservatism in Japan
Ideologies Corporate Liberal  Nationalist Minzoku Populist Shōwa Statism Ultra Neo Paternalistic Religious State Shinto Ultra
Principles Anti-communism Asian values Authority Bureaucracy Bushido Discipline Duty Elitism Aristocracy Meritocracy Familialism Filial piety Heroism Hierarchy Japanese culture Japanization Kokutai Law and order Loyalty Monarchism Bansei ikkei Nativism Nihonjinron Patriotism Shinto Social order Sovereignty Tradition Wa
History Satsuma Rebellion Imperial Rescript on Education Peace Preservation Law Anti-Comintern Pact CIA activities in Japan Red Scare Red Purge 1955 System U.S.-Japan Security Treaty Abenomics State Secrecy Law
Intellectuals Aida Etō Fukuda Fujii (Satoshi) Fujii (Genki) Hasuda Hayashi (Kentarō) Hayashi (Ōen) Hirata Hyakuta Inoue Kanokogi Koizumi Kobayashi Kōsaka Kuga Mayuzumi Motoori Mori Minobe Mizushima Mishima Miyake Nakano Natsume Nishibe Nishimura Nishio Nitobe Okakura Oh Okazaki Ōkawa Orikuchi Oshikawa Sakurai Shimazaki Shiono Shiga Shimao Sono Sugiyama Suzuki Takayama Takeyama Tsunoda Watsuji Watanabe Yamamoto Yamazaki Yoshikawa Yasuoka Yatsuka Yanagita
Literature Man'yōshū(759) Kokin Wakashū(905) Hagakure(recorded 1709–1716) Imperial Rescript on Education(1890) Bushido: The Soul of Japan(1899) The Book of Tea(1906) Patriotism(1960) Sun and Steel(1968) ”The Japan That Can Say No”(1989) The Dignity of the Nation(2005)
Politicians Abe Asō Fukuda Hara Hashimoto Hatoyama Hiranuma (Kiichirō) Hiranuma (Takeo) Hirohito Hyakuta Inada Inoue Ishiba (Shigeru) Ishiba (Jirō) Ishihara Itō Kamiya Kaneko Katsura Kawamura Kishi Kishida Koike Koizumi (Junichiro) Koizumi (Shinjirō) Mori Makino Nakagawa Nakasone Ōhira Ōkubo Saigō Saionji Suga Sugita Takaichi Tamaki Tojo (Hideki) Tojo (Yuko) Yamagata Yoshida
Parties Active Conservative Party of Japan Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan(rignt-wing factions) Kaseikai Democratic Party For the People Greater Japan Patriotic Party Happiness Realization Party Japan First Party Japan Innovation Party Osaka Restoration Association Liberal Democratic Party Tokyoites First Party Restoration Political Party Sanseitō Komeito Defunct Constitutional Government Association Imperial Rule Assistance Association Japan Renewal Party Japan Restoration Party New Conservative Party New Frontier Party Party for Japanese Kokoro Party of Hope People's New Party Sunrise Party
Alliances LDP–Komeito coalition
Organisations Active Ganbare Nippon Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform Nippon Kaigi Zaitokukai Conservative Political Action Conference(J-CPAC) Defunct Black Dragon Society Genyōsha Kenkokukai Kokuryūkai Sakurakai Tatenokai Tōseiha
Media Bungei Shunjū Shokun! Fujisankei Communications Group Fuji Television Nippon Broadcasting System Sankei Shimbun Seiron Hanada Japanese Culture Channel Sakura Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shūkan Shinchō WiLL The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings Yomiuri Shimbun Chūō Kōron
Movements Action Conservative Movement Anti-Americanism Green Kaikaku hoshu Minzoku-ha Netto-uyoku National essentialism Nihon shugi Shukyū-ha Shōwa Restoration Trumpism
Related ideologies Fascism Emperor-system Para- Historical negationism History textbooks Liberalism Classical Conservative Libertarian conservatism(factions) Reactionism Statism Corporate
Related topics Anti-national sentiments Chinese Korean Kurdish Russian Anti-PRC sentiment Constitutional reform in Japan Emperor system Nobility Daimyo Kazoku Kuge Samurai Kokugaku Politics in Japan Pro-Americanism(post-war) Pro-ROC sentiment(post-war) Satō–Kishi–Abe family Tenkō Uyoku dantai Yamato nadeshiko Zaibatsu
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Part ofa series on
Conservatism
Variants Authoritarian Corporatist Cultural Fiscal Green Left Liberal Libertarian Moderate National Paternalistic Populist Pragmatic Progressive Reactionary Religious Social Traditionalist Ultra
Principles Ancestral worship Authority Traditional Balance of power Class collaboration Cultural heritage Cultural values Discipline Duty Noblesse oblige Elitism Aristocracy Meritocracy Ethical order Familialism Family as a state model Family values Fundamentalism Gender roles Historism Honour Imperialism Law and order Loyalty Monarchism Patriarchalism Royalism Moral absolutism Meritocracy Natalism Nationalism Natural law Norms Mores Ordered liberty Organicism Organised religion State Orthodoxy Patriarchy Patriotism  Property rights Public morality Rule of law Social stratification Social order Sovereignty Subsidiarity Tradition
Intellectuals Johnson Hume Burke More Maistre Bonald Chateaubriand Czartoryski Coleridge Karamzin Savigny Carlyle Ranke Newman Tocqueville Dostoevsky Taine Le Bon Nordau Maurras Belloc Iorga Chesterton Spengler Jabotinsky Ilyin Savarkar Schmitt Eliot Mannheim Jünger Evola Strauss Röpke Gadamer Freyre Voegelin Oakeshott Burnham Lefebvre Qutb Kuehnelt-Leddihn Gómez Dávila Kirk Solzhenitsyn Koselleck Mishima Buckley Sowell Mansfield Scruton Hoppe Dugin Peterson
Politicians Adams Pitt Canning Metternich Disraeli Bismarck Salisbury Dmowski Mannerheim Baldwin Horthy Metaxas Churchill Adenauer De Gasperi Chiang Salazar De Gaulle Dollfuss Franco Khomeini Reagan Powell Pinochet Marcos Park Smith Reza Shah Suharto Lee Zia Vajpayee Thatcher Kohl Fujimori Trump Bush Kaczyński Netanyahu Modi Putin Erdoğan Abe Sarkozy Bolsonaro Yoon Orbán Cameron Milei Meloni Bukele
Religion Christian democracy Christian right Confucianism Clericalism Hindutva Integralism Islamism Jewish conservatism Religious Zionism Traditionalist School Ultramontanism
Personal variants Berlusconism Bukelism Cameronism Chiangism Erdoğanism Francoism Fujimorism Gaullism Janismo Kaczyzm Maurrassisme Mellismo Metaxism Powellism Pinochetism Putinism Qutbism Khomeinism Reaganism Sarkozysm Thatcherism Trumpism Ziaism
National variants Asia Bangladesh China Hong Kong India Israel Japan Malaysia Pakistan Taiwan Turkey Europe France Germany Italy Russia Serbia Sweden United Kingdom Latin America Brazil Colombia Peru North America Canada United States Oceania Australia New Zealand
Related ideologies Agrarianism Authoritarian capitalism Black conservatism US Conservative feminism Clerical fascism Communitarianism Conservative democracy Conservative liberalism Conservative socialism Corporatism Hispanic conservatism US LGBTQ conservatism Ordoliberalism Para-fascism
Related topics Anti-abortion movements Anti-communism White Terror Anti-gender movement Anti-immigration Nativism Catholic social teaching Conservative wave NatCon Radical right Europe US Right realism Right-wing politics Alt Authoritarianism Centre Dictatorship Far New Small-c conservative Toryism
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Conservatism in Japan (Japanese:保守主義,romanized: hoshu shugi) is the dominant ideology of the country'spost-war politics, notably through the establishment of the "1955 System" under theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP). Since its inception in 1955, the LDP has been a dominant force in Japanese politics, embodying the party's conservative policies and shaping the country's governance for much of the post-war era.

Mainstream contemporary Japaneseconservatives largely believe in stances such asrevising the Constitution and apro-United States foreign policy,^[1][2][3] while some hold positions including calls for remilitarization and a stronger foreign policy against communistNorth Korea andChina and sometimesSouth Korea andRussia. Additionally, radical conservatives expressanti-LGBT andanti-immigration sentiments^[4][5][6][7] as well as engaging indenial of Japanese war crimes prior to and during World War II.^[8][9][10]

During theMeiji era (1868–1912), Japan underwent a significant transformation as the country embarked on a process of rapid modernization and Westernization. While embracing modern reforms to strengthen Japan's economy and military, conservative factions within the government and society sought to preserve traditional Japanese values and institutions. TheMeiji government implemented policies aimed at centralizing power under theEmperor, promotingnationalism, and reinforcingsocial hierarchies. These conservative efforts aimed to maintainsocial order amidst the profound societal changes brought about by industrialization and Western influence.Samurai values ofloyalty, duty, and honor continued to influence conservative thought, emphasizing allegiance to the Emperor and the preservation ofJapan's cultural identity in the face of Western encroachment.^[11][12][13]

In the 1930s and 40s, conservatism took on a moreextreme character. Influenced by risingmilitarism and expansionist ambitions, conservative factions within the government and military advocated for aggressive foreign policies aimed at securingJapan's dominance in East Asia. This period saw the emergence ofultranationalist parties such as theImperial Rule Assistance Association and the militarization of Japanese society, with conservative forces pushing for military expansion andimperialist ventures in China and other parts of Asia. The rise of militarism and ultranationalism led to the erosion of democratic institutions and a tightening grip ofauthoritarianism, resulting in Japan's involvement in World War II.^[14][15][16]

After the war, Japanese conservatism experienced a resurgence under the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which came to power in 1955 and established the "1955 system" of conservative dominance in Japanese politics. Due to this, the LDP emerged as a dominant political force which lasts to this day.^[17][18]

Japanese conservatism espouses classical conservative stances and values in relation to thenuclear family, thenation-state,property rights,rule of law, andmonarchy. As such, this section will only highlight policies that are exclusive to Japanese conservatism.

Japanese conservatives advocate for revising the country's constitution, particularlyArticle 9, which renounces war and prohibits Japan from maintaining a military. Constitutional revision was the priority of many conservative prime ministers throughout the 20th and 21st century, notably during the second premiership ofShinzo Abe from 2012 to 2020.^[1][2]

Japanese conservatives and politicians often engage in denial of Japanese war crimes committed during the Imperial era (1868–1945), most notably its denial of theNanjing andKantō Massacres, makingpseudohistorical claims that such events did not take place. Japanese conservatives occasionally engage inhistorical revisionism, glorifying aspects of Japan's wartime past, such as by visiting theYasukuni Shrine, aShinto shrine in Tokyo commemorating the 2,466,532 who died in service of Japan, including 1066 convicted war criminals. This has led to manycontroversies surrounding the shrine, as visits to the shrine by Japanese prime ministers, cabinet members, or parliamentarians draw condemnation from countries such as China and South Korea. Some Japanese conservatives have attempted to justify Japan's involvement in World War II by framing it as a noble cause to "liberate Asia from Western colonial powers".

Following theFukushima nuclear accident in 2011, popular opinion towards nuclear energy has been contentious. While most Japanese conservatives advocate for the continued use and expansion ofnuclear power, some moderates have called for phasing out nuclear energy entirely due to safety concerns and environmental risks.^[19]

Japan's practice of whaling has been a source of controversy both domestically and internationally.^[20] Most Japanese conservatives argue for the preservation of whaling as a cultural tradition and an important economic activity as opposed to Japanese liberals who mostly advocate for stricter regulations or an end to commercial whaling.^[21]

Japanese conservatives have often opposed changing theImperial Household Law to allow for female succession to theChrysanthemum Throne.^[22] Similarly, Japanese conservatives have opposed the country's surname reforms where married couples would be given the option of choosing either spouse's surname or creating a new surname altogether.^[23][24]

Japanese conservatives, with the exception of far-right ultranationalists, generally accept and embrace the country's close relations with the United States, supporting theU.S.–Japan Alliance and the presence ofU.S. military forces in Japanese territory in contrast to Japanese progressives who opposes both the military alliance and the presence of American troops. Moreover, Japanese conservatives advocate for a stronger foreign policy against China (due toterritorial disputes and geopolitical competition) and North Korea (due to itsnuclear program andabductions of Japanese citizens), and sometimes towards South Korea (due toterritorial disputes,comfort women issue, andtrade disputes) and Russia (due to territorial disputes and Russia's invasion of Ukraine). Due to Japan'shostile relations with China, most Japanese conservatives support establishing closer relations withTaiwan, with prominent conservative politicians advocating for direct intervention if war between Taiwan and China were to break out.^[25][26]

Since the beginning of theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Japanese conservatives have expressed immense support for Ukraine due to Japan's ongoingterritorial dispute with Russia regarding theKuril Islands, which the Japanese government claims are "illegally occupied" by Russia. According to a 2012Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, 72% of Japanese people view Russia unfavorably, making Japan the most anti-Russian country surveyed.^[27] A 2017 poll from theJapanese government found that 78.1% of Japanese said that they felt little or no affinity to Russia, which was the second highest percentage out of 8 regions polled (behind negative affinity to China at 78.5%).^[28]

• Liberal Democratic Party (Ruling party: 1955–1993; 1994–2009; 2012–present)
• Komeito (Junior coalition partner of the LDP: 1999–2009; 2012–2025)
• Japan Innovation Party (Junior coalition partner of the LDP,confidence and supply: 2025–present)
• Democratic Party For the People
• Sanseitō
• Conservative Party of Japan

• NHK Party
• Japan First Party
• Happiness Realization Party
• Tomin First no Kai
• First no Kai
• Tsubasa Party
• Greater Japan Patriotic Party

• Nippon Kaigi (Non-governmental organization andlobbying group)

• Liberal Party (Predecessor to the LDP)
• Japan Democratic Party (Predecessor to the LDP)

• New Liberal Club
• Japan New Party
• Japan Renewal Party
• New Party Sakigake
• New Frontier Party

• People's New Party
• Your Party
• Sunrise Party
• New Renaissance Party
• Japan Restoration Party
• Japan Innovation Party
• Kibō no Tō
• Party for Japanese Kokoro
• Kōmeitō (1962–1998)
• Democratic Socialist Party
• Dōshi Club
• Liberal Party (1998)
• Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)
• Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)
• Spirit of Japan Party

• Imperial Rule Assistance Association
• Tōhōkai

• Constitutional Democratic Party
• Rikken Seiyūkai
• Shōwakai

• Yomiuri Shimbun (Chūō Kōron)
• Fujisankei Communications Group (Sankei Shimbun,Fuji Television,Seiron)
• Bungei Shunjū (Shokun!)
• Japanese Culture Channel Sakura
• Shufu no Tomo
• Shukan Shincho

Prominent Japanese conservative figures include:

• 
  Saigō Takamori^[29]
• 
  Home MinisterŌkubo Toshimichi^[30]
• 
  Prime ministerItō Hirobumi^[31]
• 
  Okakura Kakuzō^[32]
• 
  Emperor Shōwa^[16]
• 
  Prime ministerHiranuma Kiichirō^[33]
• 
  Prime ministerShūmei Ōkawa^[34]
• 
  Prime ministerHideki Tojo^[35]
• 
  Prime ministerShigeru Yoshida^[36]
• 
  Prime ministerIchirō Hatoyama^[37]
• 
  Prime ministerNobusuke Kishi^[38]
• 
  Hideo Kobayashi^[39]
• 
  Yukio Mishima^[40][41]
• 
  Prime ministerTakeo Fukuda^[42]
• 
  Prime ministerYasuhiro Nakasone^[43]
• 
  Prime ministerJunichiro Koizumi^[44]
• 
  Prime ministerTarō Asō^[45]
• 
  GovernorShintaro Ishihara of Tokyo^[46]
• 
  GovernorTōru Hashimoto of Osaka^[47]
• 
  Prime MinisterShinzo Abe^[48]
• 
  Prime MinisterSanae Takaichi^[49]

• Liberalism in Japan
• List of political parties in Japan
• Politics of Japan

• Conservatism in Japan
• Conservatism by country
• Politics of Japan
• Politics of postwar Japan
• Nationalism in Japan

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