Political parties (政党,seitō) appeared inJapan after theMeiji Restoration, and gradually increased in importance after the promulgation of theMeiji Constitution and the creation of theDiet of Japan. During theTaishō period, parliamentary democracy based onparty politics temporarily succeeded in Japan, but in the 1930s the political parties were eclipsed by the military, and were dissolved in the 1940s duringWorld War II.
Soon after the Meiji Restoration, various political associations arose. These included groups of disgruntled unemployedsamurai seeking either to overthrow the government and return to the days offeudalism, or to invadeKorea (seeSeikanron), whereby their skills as warriors would be in demand again. These also included urban intellectuals and rural landowners who were part of the liberalFreedom and People's Rights Movement seeking anational assembly and written nationalconstitution.
Both groups were viewed with equal suspicion and disdain by theMeiji oligarchy, who reacted by imposing several repressive laws on public assembly, the press and on political discussion. The Meiji government had come to power by an elite ofsamurai from certain clans (hanbatsu) and thegenrō felt threatened by anything looking ever remotely likerepublicanism ordemocracy.
During this period,Itagaki Taisuke andŌkuma Shigenobu were leading figures in the legitimization of political parties. Itagaki created Japan's first political party, theAikoku Kōtō, in 1873 inTokyo to petition for an elected assembly, and a similar regional party based inOsaka, theAikokusha. These groups were the basis of theJiyutō (Liberal Party), founded in 1881 as Japan’s first nationally based party. Ōkuma founded theRikken Kaishintō in 1882, mainly from the urban elites. In reaction, the oligarchs fought back by the creation of their own party the same year, theRikken Teiseitō.
Meanwhile, the disgruntled formersamurai vented their dissatisfaction at the state of affairs in a series of revolts, including theSaga Rebellion of 1872, and others, cumulating in theSatsuma Rebellion. After crushing these revolts by military force, the government also passed thePeace Preservation Law of 1887. TheMeiji Constitution was issued two years later in 1889.
The creation of theDiet of Japan in November 1890 was marked by intense rivalry between thegenrō, who reserved the right to appoint thePrime Minister and the members of the cabinets regardless of what the elected government wanted, and the political parties who were powerless because of their inability to unite and thus control the House of Representatives. The Rikken Kaishintō gradually lost support, and was overtaken by the pro-oligarch until it was reformed as the Shimpotō in 1896.
None of the political parties, whether pro- or anti-oligarch, had any power in theHouse of Peers, nor did they have significant power in the countryside, as key local officials were appointed directly by the bureaucracy in Tokyo.
The Jiyutō and the Shimpotō united in 1898 against Prime MinisterItō Hirobumi's proposed new taxation plans, and formed theKenseitō, which emerged with a majority of seats in Diet in the subsequent election. Itō resigned, and was replaced byŌkuma Shigenobu, making the first time that a political party had assumed power. Although the Ōkuma government collapsed within months, a precedent had been set.
The Kenseitō evolved into theKenseitō Hontō, followed by theRikken Kokumintō in 1910. Itō Hirobumi joined into the fray, by organizing theRikken Seiyukai in 1900 to combine elements from the former Jiyutō with elements from the oligarchs and bureaucrats. The more conservative elements rallied aroundKatsura Taro, and hisRikken Doshikai, which was reconstituted as theKenseikai in 1916. From 1922 onwards, politics was a rivalry between the Seiyukai and the Kenseikai, rather than political parties and oligarchs.
During this period, a bewildering array of parties advocatingsocialism,Marxism oragrarianism appeared. All provoked hostility from the mainstream political parties, oligarchs and military alike, and many were either banned or went underground soon after formation. Following the successfulBolshevik Revolution inRussia and the emergence oflabor unions in Japan, theNihon Shakai Shugi Domei (1920),Japan Communist Party (1922), and other left-wing parties emerged.
The main threat torepresentative democracy in Japan proved to be the Japanese military, rather than the left-wing parties. Under the Meiji Constitution, theMinister of the Army (who served as Minister of War) andMinister of the Navy were appointed by their respective services, and not by the Prime Minister. The military was also directly answerable only to the Emperor, and not to the elected government. In 1912, a law restricting the eligibility to Minister of the Army or Navy to active duty generals or admirals had the unforeseen effect of giving the military a trump card over the government when Prime MinisterUehara Yusaku resigned over failure of the Diet to pass his budget requesting funds for two additional armydivisions. The Army's refusal to appoint a successor brought down the government.
The military did not immediately utilize its prerogative to control the formation of the Cabinet, so in theTaishō period, several administrations from 1918–1922 and 1924–1932 operated largely free from military intervention. In 1927, the Kenseikai reorganized itself as theRikken Minseitō, which from 1927 to 1932 alternated power with the Seiyukai. Prime Ministers continued to be chosen bygenrōSaionji Kinmochi (Itō Hirobumi’s protégé), but his choices during his period reflected political party strength in the Diet.The pseudo two-party system during this period is called "Established practices in constitutional politics(憲政の常道, Kensei no Jodo)".These included the premiership ofHara Takashi,Takahashi Korekiyo,Kiyoura Keigo,Katō Takaaki,Wakatsuki Reijirō,Tanaka Giichi,Hamaguchi Osachi, andInukai Tsuyoshi.
The number of voters increased fourfold after the passage of theUniversal Manhood Suffrage Law in 1925, which gave all men 25 years and over the right to vote. With the increase in expenses required for election, the influence of thezaibatsu on the political parties also increased. At the beginning of theShōwa era, this collusion between politicians and government officials, led to an increase in high-profile corruption scandals and increasing dissatisfaction with the elected government by the public in general and by the military in particular. Some military used this dissatisfaction to denounce theLondon Naval Treaty and promote aShōwa Restoration.
The assassination of Prime MinisterInukai Tsuyoshi in theMay 15 Incident (1932) at the hands of young Navy radicals proclaiming the need for political reform, started the rapid decline in the power and influence of the political party in Japan. After the assassination of Inukai, every subsequent Prime Minister was either from the military, or was someone withmilitaristic and/orultranationalistic credentials. As the military influence on society increased towards the end of the 1930s, theImperial General Headquarters launched alarge scale invasion of China. Pressure then mounted from the military leadership for the remaining political parties to merge into a single organization, thus giving the government a single voice, referred to asHakkō ichiu ("eight crown cords, one roof"). This change to aone-party state was effected in 1940 under Prime MinisterFumimaro Konoe, when all remaining political parties joined theImperial Rule Assistance Association.
This is a partial listing ofpolitical parties in pre–World War IIEmpire of Japan
Note that this list does not include the ultranationalist organizations, which (although they had a political agenda) did not participate directly in the electoral process by running their own candidates for public office. Likewise, this list does not include the political factions within the Japanese military, which also were not true political parties.
