Leader of the Opposition (Japan) explained

Post:	Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent:	Yoshihiko Noda
Incumbentsince:	23 September 2024
Termlength:	While leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government
Inaugural:	Shigeru Yoshida
Formation:	1947

The leader of the Opposition (Japan) is the leader of the main opposition party who is not in power, not to the official position established by law. As a result of the 2024 Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, Japanese ex-PM Yoshihiko Noda became the leader of the Opposition.^[1] ^[2]

Overview

Under the 1955 System, the chairman of the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) served as the leader of the Opposition.^[3] In particular, Takako Doi showed leadership as the first female opposition leader, and in the 1989 Japanese House of Councillors election, the JSP won a victory over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the popular vote. This movement is called the Madonna Whirlwind because many female candidates won.^[4] ^[5]

After the collapse of the 1955 System, the leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the DPJ succeeding parties have been the leaders of the Opposition.

In 2000, as part of political reform, the question time was introduced to the Diet of Japan, and the opposition leader's role as the Leader of the Opposition has increased.^[6] In particular, at question Time in 2012, opposition leader Shinzo Abe, the President of the LDP, drew attention by making Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda promise to dissolve the House of Representatives. ^[7] ^[8]

In the 2014 Japanese general election, Banri Kaieda failed to win seats in both the constituency and proportional representation block. The failure of the incumbent opposition leader was the first in 65 years since Tetsu Katayama's defeat in the 1949 Japanese general election and the first since the transition to a parallel voting system in 1994.^[9] ^[10]

List of Leaders of the Opposition (1947-present)

Rep = Member of the House of Representatives
Cou = Member of the House of Councillors

Portrait	Name Electoral District	Party	Term of Office			General Elections	Ref	Government
Portrait	Took office	Left office	Duration	Party		General Elections	Ref	Cabinet	Prime Minister
	Shigeru Yoshida Rep for Kōchi at-large (1878-1967)		Liberal	24 May 1947	15 October 1948		ー			Socialist	Katayama	Tetsu Katayama
	Shigeru Yoshida Rep for Kōchi at-large (1878-1967)		Democratic Liberal	24 May 1947	15 October 1948		ー			Democratic	Ashida	Hitoshi Ashida
	Tetsu Katayama Rep for Kanagawa 3rd (1887-1978)		Socialist	15 October 1948	23 January 1949		1949			Democratic Liberal	Yoshida II	Shigeru Yoshida
	Takeru Inukai Rep for Okayama 2nd (1896-1960)		Democratic	23 January 1949	10 February 1950		ー		Yoshida III	Democratic Liberal
Vacant 10 February 1950 - 28 April 1950											Liberal
	Gizo Tomabechi Rep for Aomori 1st (1880-1959)		National Democratic	28 April 1950	8 February 1952		ー
Vacant 8 February 1952 - 13 June 1952
	Mamoru Shigemitsu Rep for Ōita 2nd (1887-1957)		Kaishintō	13 June 1952	24 November 1954		1952
		1953					Yoshida IV
		ー					Yoshida V
	Ichirō Hatoyama Rep for Tokyo 1st (1883-1959)		Japan Democratic	24 November 1954	10 December 1954		Yoshida V	ー
	Taketora Ogata Rep for Fukuoka 1st (1888-1956)		Liberal	10 December 1954	13 October 1955		1955			Japan Democratic	Hatoyama I	Ichirō Hatoyama
	Taketora Ogata Rep for Fukuoka 1st (1888-1956)	ー	Liberal	10 December 1954	13 October 1955		Hatoyama II
	Mosaburō Suzuki Rep for Tokyo 3rd (1893-1970)		Socialist	13 October 1955	23 March 1960		Hatoyama II	ー
		ー								Hatoyama III
		ー								Ishibashi	Tanzan Ishibashi
		1958								Kishi I	Nobusuke Kishi
		ー					Kishi II
	Inejirō Asanuma Rep for Tokyo 1st (1898-1960)		Socialist	23 March 1960	12 October 1960		Kishi II		ー
	Inejirō Asanuma Rep for Tokyo 1st (1898-1960)	ー	Socialist	23 March 1960	12 October 1960				Ikeda I		Hayato Ikeda
	*Saburō Eda* *(Acting)* Cou for Okayama at-large (1907-1977)		Socialist	12 October 1960	6 March 1961		1960		Ikeda I
		ー	Socialist	12 October 1960	6 March 1961		Ikeda II
	Jōtarō Kawakami Rep for Hyōgo 1st (1889-1965)		Socialist	6 March 1961	6 May 1965		Ikeda II		1963
		ー					Ikeda III
		ー							Satō I		Eisaku Satō
	Kōzō Sasaki Rep for Miyagi 1st (1900-1985)		Socialist	6 May 1965	19 August 1967		1967		Satō I
	Kōzō Sasaki Rep for Miyagi 1st (1900-1985)	ー	Socialist	6 May 1965	19 August 1967		Satō II
	Seiichi Katsumata Rep for Shizuoka 2nd (1908-1989)		Socialist	19 August 1967	4 October 1968				ー
Vacant 4 October 1968 - 30 November 1968
	Tomomi Narita Rep for Kagawa 1st (1912-1979)		Socialist	30 November 1968	13 December 1977				1969
		ー							Satō III
		1972									Tanaka I	Kakuei Tanaka
		ー					Tanaka II					Kakuei Tanaka
		1976							Miki		Takeo Miki
		ー							Fukuda		Takeo Fukuda
	Ichio Asukata Mayor of Yokohama ↓ Rep for Tokyo 1st (1915-1990)		Socialist	13 December 1977	7 September 1983		ー		Fukuda		Takeo Fukuda
		1979							Ōhira I		Masayoshi Ōhira
		1980					Ōhira II				Masayoshi Ōhira
		ー							ー		Masayoshi Ito Acting
		ー							Suzuki		Zenkō Suzuki
		ー							Nakasone I		Yasuhiro Nakasone
	Masashi Ishibashi Rep for Nagasaki 2nd (1924-2019)		Socialist	7 September 1983	8 September 1986		1983		Nakasone I
		1986					Nakasone II
		ー					Nakasone III
	Takako Doi Rep for Hyōgo 2nd (1928-2014)		Socialist	8 September 1986	31 July 1991		Nakasone III		ー
		ー							Uno		Sōsuke Uno
		1990							Kaifu I		Toshiki Kaifu
		ー					Kaifu II
	Makoto Tanabe Rep for Gunma 1st (1922-2015)		Socialist	31 July 1991	19 January 1993		Kaifu II		ー
	Makoto Tanabe Rep for Gunma 1st (1922-2015)	ー	Socialist	31 July 1991	19 January 1993				Miyazawa
	Sadao Yamahana Rep for Tokyo 11th (1936-1999)		Socialist	19 January 1993	9 August 1993		1993		Miyazawa
	Yōhei Kōno Rep for Kanagawa 5th (born 1937)		Liberal Democratic	9 August 1993	30 June 1994		ー				Hosokawa
	Yōhei Kōno Rep for Kanagawa 5th (born 1937)	ー	Liberal Democratic	9 August 1993	30 June 1994					Hata
	Tsutomu Hata Rep for Nagano 2nd (1935-2017)		Japan Renewal	30 June 1994	10 December 1994		ー				Murayama
	Toshiki Kaifu Rep for Aichi 3rd (1931-2022)		New Frontier	10 December 1994	28 December 1995		ー
	Ichirō Ozawa Rep for Iwate 2nd ↓ Rep for Iwate 4th (born 1942)		New Frontier	28 December 1995	31 December 1997		ー
		1996								Hashimoto I	Ryutaro Hashimoto
		ー					Hashimoto II
	Naoto Kan Rep for Tokyo 18th (born 1946)		Democratic	31 December 1997	25 September 1999			ー
			Democratic					ー
		ー	Democratic						Obuchi		Keizō Obuchi
	Yukio Hatoyama Rep for Hokkaido 9th (born 1947)		Democratic	25 September 1999	10 December 2002		ー		Obuchi		Keizō Obuchi
		2000							Mori I		Yoshirō Mori
		ー					Mori II				Yoshirō Mori
		ー							Koizumi I		Junichiro Koizumi
	Naoto Kan Rep for Tokyo 18th (born 1946)		Democratic	10 December 2002	18 May 2004		2003		Koizumi I
	Naoto Kan Rep for Tokyo 18th (born 1946)	ー	Democratic	10 December 2002	18 May 2004		Koizumi II
	Katsuya Okada Rep for Mie 3rd (born 1953)		Democratic	18 May 2004	17 September 2005				2005
	Seiji Maehara Rep for Kyoto 2nd (born 1962)		Democratic	17 September 2005	7 April 2006				ー
	Seiji Maehara Rep for Kyoto 2nd (born 1962)	ー	Democratic	17 September 2005	7 April 2006		Koizumi III
	Ichirō Ozawa Rep for Iwate 4th (born 1942)		Democratic	7 April 2006	16 May 2009		Koizumi III		ー
		ー							Abe I		Shinzo Abe
		ー							Fukuda		Yasuo Fukuda
		ー							Asō		Tarō Asō
	Yukio Hatoyama Rep for Hokkaido 9th (born 1947)		Democratic	16 May 2009	16 September 2009		2009		Asō		Tarō Asō
	*Masatoshi Wakabayashi* *(Acting)* Cou for Nagano at-large (1934-2023)		Liberal Democratic	16 September 2009	28 September 2009		ー				Hatoyama	Yukio Hatoyama
	Sadakazu Tanigaki Rep for Kyoto 5th (born 1945)		Liberal Democratic	28 September 2009	26 September 2012		ー				Hatoyama	Yukio Hatoyama
		ー								Kan	Naoto Kan
		ー								Noda	Yoshihiko Noda
	Shinzo Abe Rep for Yamaguchi 4th (1954-2022)		Liberal Democratic	26 September 2012	26 December 2012		2012			Noda	Yoshihiko Noda
	Banri Kaieda Rep for Tokyo PR block (born 1949)		Democratic	26 December 2012	15 December 2014		2014				Abe II	Shinzo Abe
Vacant 15 December 2014 - 18 January 2015									Abe III
	Katsuya Okada Rep for Mie 3rd (born 1953)		Democratic	18 January 2015	15 September 2016		ー
	Katsuya Okada Rep for Mie 3rd (born 1953)		Democratic	18 January 2015	15 September 2016		ー
	Renhō Cou for Tokyo at-large (born 1967)		Democratic	18 September 2016	1 September 2017		ー
	Seiji Maehara Rep for Kyoto 2nd (born 1962)		Democratic	1 September 2017	22 October 2017		2017
	Yukio Edano Rep for Saitama 5th (born 1964)		Former Constitutional Democratic	22 October 2017	30 November 2021		ー		Abe IV
			Constitutional Democratic				ー		Abe IV
		ー								Suga	Yoshihide Suga
		2021								Kishida I	Fumio Kishida
		ー					Kishida II
	Kenta Izumi Rep for Kyoto 3rd (born 1974)		Constitutional Democratic	30 November 2021	23 September 2024		Kishida II	ー
		ー					Kishida II (Reshuffle I)
		ー					Kishida II (Reshuffle II)
	Yoshihiko Noda Rep for Chiba 4th ↓ Rep for Chiba 14th (born 1957)		Constitutional Democratic	23 September 2024	Incumbent		Kishida II (Reshuffle II)	ー
		2024							Ishiba I		Shigeru Ishiba
		ー					Ishiba II				Shigeru Ishiba

Notes and References

News: Japan's main opposition CDP picks Noda Yoshihiko as leader. NHK. 2024-09-23. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: Japan ex-PM Yoshihiko Noda elected main opposition leader. The Nikkei. 2024-09-23. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 戦後政治と政党. postwar politics and political parties. NHK. 2024-10-06. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 1989年　マドンナ旋風. 1989: The Madonna Whirlwind. The Nikkei. 2019-07-21. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: マドンナ旋風　自民沈む　「山が動いた」…８９年. Madonna whirlwind, LDP sinking "Mountain moved"…89. Yomiuri Shimbun. 2022-06-10. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 党首討論とは. What is the question time？. NHK. 2024-10-06. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 第181回国会　国家基本政策委員会合同審査会. 181st Joint Review Committee of the National Basic Policy Committee of the Diet. House of Representatives of Japan. 2012-11-14. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 【アーカイブ】野田氏VS安倍氏、解散表明に至る党首討論のやりとり. [Archive] Mr. Noda vs. Mr. Abe, exchange of party leader discussions leading up to announcement of dissolution. The Asahi Shimbun. 2022-01-01. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 民主・海江田氏が落選　代表辞任へ. Kaieda lost his seat. He will resign the Leader of the DPJ.. Sankei Shimbun. 2014-12-15. 2024-10-06. ja.
News: 民主・海江田代表「つらかったこと限りない」　辞任表明. "There was no end to the pain.", Kaieda said. He resigned the Leader of the DPJ.. The Nikkei. 2014-12-15. 2024-10-06. ja.