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Tomin First no Kai 都民ファーストの会 | |
|---|---|
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| President | Takayuki Morimura |
| Founder | Yuriko Koike |
| Founded | 23 January 2017 (2017-01-23) |
| Headquarters | Toshima,Tokyo |
| Ideology | Conservatism[1] Japanese nationalism[2] Right-wing populism[3] |
| Political position | Centre-right[4] toright-wing[5][2] |
| National affiliation | First no Kai (2021–) Kibō no Tō (2017–2018) |
| Colours | Green |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly | 31 / 127 |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| tomin1st | |
Tomin First no Kai (Japanese:都民ファーストの会,Hepburn:Tomin Fāsuto no Kai;Tokyoites First Party) is a regionalpolitical party inTokyo,Japan.
The party was founded by TokyoGovernorYuriko Koike in 2017. Koike later stepped down as the party's leader and is no longer officially affiliated with the party, however her policies and image continue to form the backbone of the party's platform and she continues to endorse and campaign for its candidates.[6]
The party won the most seats in theTokyo Metropolitan Assembly in2017 in what was widely described as a wave election, the party later lost control of the Assembly in the2021 election, becoming the second-largest party in the chamber.
The group was founded byYuriko Koike,governor of Tokyo since 2016. While still a member of theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP), Koike began laying the groundwork for a new political party in late 2016, when she established theKibo no Juku ("Academy of Hope") program to train potential political candidates. The program had thousands of applicants.[7]
On 31 May 2017, in advance of the upcoming local elections, she resigned from the LDP, officially becoming the new party's leader and forming an alliance withKomeito in an effort to secure a governing majority in Tokyo's parliament.[8] On 3 July 2017, the alliancetook a majority in the prefectural election, pushing out the Liberal Democratic Party with a combined 79 seats of the 127-seat assembly.[9] All but one of Tomin First's candidates were victorious; senior LDP lawmakerShigeru Ishiba called the election a "historic defeat" for the LDP.[10]
Koike stepped down as party head shortly after the election and was replaced by Kazusa Noda; Noda himself resigned in September 2017 and was replaced by Chiharu Araki. Two key party members, Shun Otokita and Reiko Ueda, stepped down in October, citing the closed nature of the party's leadership and its restrictions on their activities in the metropolitan assembly.[11]
Koike formed a sister national party,Kibō no Tō, in preparation for the2017 general election. The party won 50 seats and 17.36% of the vote in the election, becoming the second largest opposition party in theHouse of Representatives, a result which was nevertheless described as an underperformance for the party given opinion polling and expectations.[12] The party was later effectively disbanded in May 2018 after it merged with theDemocratic Party to form theDemocratic Party for the People.
In the2021 Tokyo prefectural election, Tomin First lost a total of 15 seats, losing its status as the largest party in the Assembly to the LDP. Despite the loss of seats, the result was described by analysts as an unexpectedly strong showing from the party, as opinion polls and projections prior to the election had forecast the party losing far more seats.[6]
On October 4, 2021, less than a month before the2021 Japanese general election, the party announced it had formed a national party calledFirst no Kai. Party leaders justified their decision to create the party by noting that the party, which is currently the second largest party in theTokyo Metropolitan Assembly, lacks any national representation with the dissolving of Kibō.[13] The party was described by its leader, Chiharu Araki, as being a centrist conservative party. The party plans to field candidates mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but they said that Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has not been asked to run for a seat.[14][15]
The party platform for the 2017 Tokyo election advocatedopen government and stricter penalties for public smoking.[16] However, the party indicated relatively vague policy objectives in advance of the election, and many voted for the party simply in order to prevent the LDP from taking control of the legislature in the wake of its recent scandals.[17]
| No. | Name | Term of office | National affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | |||
| 1 | Kazusa Noda | 23 January 2017 | 1 June 2017 | |
| 2 | Yuriko Koike | 1 June 2017 | 3 July 2017 | |
| 3 | Kazusa Noda | 3 July 2017 | 10 September 2017 | |
| 4 | Chiharu Araki | 10 September 2017 | 1 November 2022 |
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| 5 | Takayuki Morimura | 5 November 2022 | Incumbent | |
| Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | SupportedYuriko Koike[a] | 3,661,371 | 59.7% | Won |
| 2024 | SupportedYuriko Koike[a] | 2,918,015 | 42.8% | Won |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Yuriko Koike | 1,884,029 | 33.68% | 49 / 127 |  49 | 1st |
| 2021 | Chiharu Araki | 1,034,778 | 22.28% | 31 / 127 |  15 | 2nd |
| 2025 | Takayuki Morimura | 1,043,563 | 19.74% | 31 / 127 |  0 | 1st |
... The Japanese Communist Party, two small centre-right regional groupings — Tokyoites First Party and Osaka-based Japan Innovation Party (Ishin) ...
Bracketed numbers indicate numbers of seats in theHouse of Representatives (Lower House) of theNational Diet immediately after the2024 general election | |||||
| Officially recognized political parties |
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| Political organizations with seats in theNational Diet |
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