Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) Explained

Abbreviation:LDP
Jimintō
Leader1 Title:President
Leader1 Name:Fumio Kishida (stepping down)
Leader2 Title:Vice President
Leader2 Name:Tarō Asō
Leader3 Name:Toshimitsu Motegi
Headquarters:11–23, Nagatachō 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo 100-8910, Japan
Student Wing:LDP Students Division[1]
Country:Japan
Liberal Democratic Party
Native Name:Japanese: Jiyū-Minshutō
Newspaper:Jiyu Minshu[2]
Membership: 1,136,445 (2021)[3]
Position:Right-wing
Anthem:"We"[4]
Slogan:地域の声で、新たな日本へ
('To a new Japan with the voice of the region')[5]
International:Asia Pacific Democrat Union
Seats1 Title:Councillors
Seats2 Title:Representatives
Seats3 Title:Prefectures[6]
Seats4 Title:Municipalities

The, frequently abbreviated to LDP or, is a major conservative[7] and Japanese nationalist political party in Japan.

The LDP was formed in 1955 as a merger of two conservative parties: the Liberal Party and the Japan Democratic Party. Since its foundation, the LDP has been in power almost continuously—a period called the 1955 System—except between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012. From 1955 to 2009, the LDP oversaw Japan's recovery from World War II, the country's economic miracle and its subsequent stagnation.[8] After a brief interregnum, the LDP regained control of the government in a landslide victory at the 2012 election.[9] After the 2021 and 2022 elections it holds 261 seats in the House of Representatives and 119 seats in the House of Councillors, and in coalition with Komeito since 1999, a governing majority in both houses.

The LDP is often described as a big tent conservative party, including factions that range from moderate conservatism to right-wing nationalism Although lacking a cohesive political ideology, the party's platform has historically supported increased defense spending and, since the 21st century, maintaining close relations with its Indo-Pacific allies to counter the rise of China as a superpower.[10] The party's history and internal composition has been characterized by intense factionalism among its members since its emergence in 1955.[11] [12] The incumbent prime minister and party president is Fumio Kishida.

History

Beginnings

The LDP was formed in 1955[13] as a merger between two of Japan's political parties, the and the, both conservative parties, as a united front against the then popular, now the . The party won the following elections, and Japan's first conservative government with a majority was formed by 1955. It would hold majority government until 1993.[14]

The LDP began with reforming Japan's international relations, ranging from entry into the United Nations, to establishing diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. Its leaders in the 1950s also made the LDP the main government party, and in all the elections of the 1950s, the LDP won the majority vote, with the only other opposition coming from left-wing politics, made up of the Japan Socialist Party and the Japanese Communist Party.

From the 1950s to the early 1970s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency spent millions of dollars to aid the LDP against leftist parties such as the Socialists and the Communists,[15] [16] although this was not revealed until the mid-1990s when it was exposed by The New York Times.[17] Details remain classified, while available documents show connections to prime ministers Nobusuke Kishi and Eisaku Satō from the Satō–Kishi–Abe family.[18] [19] [20]

1960s to 1990s

For the majority of the 1960s, the LDP (and Japan) were led by Eisaku Satō, beginning with the hosting of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and ending in 1972 with Japanese neutrality in the Vietnam War and with the beginning of the Japanese asset price bubble. By the end of the 1970s, the LDP went into its decline, where even though it held the reins of government many scandals plagued the party, while the opposition (now joined with the Kōmeitō (1962–1998)) gained momentum.

In 1976, in the wake of the Lockheed bribery scandals, a handful of younger LDP Diet members broke away and established their own party, the New Liberal Club (Shin Jiyu Kurabu). A decade later, however, it was reabsorbed by the LDP.[21]

By the late 1970s, the Japan Socialist Party, the Japanese Communist Party, and the Komeito along with the international community used major pressure to have Japan switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan (Republic of China) to the People's Republic of China.

In 1983, the LDP was a founding member of the International Democracy Union.[22]

The LDP managed to consistently win elections for over three decades, and the LDP's decades in power allowed it to establish a highly stable process of policy formation. This process would not have been possible if other parties had secured parliamentary majorities. LDP strength was based on an enduring, although not unchallenged, coalition of big business, small business, agriculture, professional groups, and other interests. Elite bureaucrats collaborated closely with the party and interest groups in drafting and implementing policy. In a sense, the party's success was a result not of its internal strength but of its weakness. It lacked a strong, nationwide organization or consistent ideology with which to attract voters. Its leaders were rarely decisive, charismatic, or popular. But it functioned efficiently as a locus for matching interest group money and votes with bureaucratic power and expertise. This arrangement resulted in corruption, but the party could claim credit for helping to create economic growth and a stable, middle-class Japan.

Despite winning the 1986 general election by a landslide, by the end of 1980s, the LDP started to suffer setbacks in elections due to unpopular policies on trade liberalisation and tax, as well as a scandal involving their leader Sōsuke Uno and the Recruit scandal. The party lost its majority in the House of Councillors for the first time in 34 years in the 1989 election.[23]

Out of power

The LDP managed to hold on to power in 1990 Japanese general election despite some losses. In June 1993, 10 members of the party's liberal-conservative faction split to form the New Party Sakigake.[24] The end of the postwar miracle economy, the Japanese asset price bubble and other reasons such as the recruit scandal led to the LDP losing its majority in 1993 Japanese general election held in July of that year.

Seven opposition parties – including several formed by LDP dissidents – formed the Hosokawa government headed by Japan New Party leader and LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa, who became the Prime Minister preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats; no other individual party crossed the 80-seat mark. Yohei Kono became the president of the LDP preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa, he was the first non-prime minister LDP leader as the leader of the opposition.

In 1994, the Japan Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake left the ruling coalition, joining the LDP in the opposition. The remaining members of the coalition tried to stay in power as the minority Hata Cabinet under the leadership of Tsutomu Hata, but this failed when the LDP and the Socialists, bitter rivals for 40 years, formed a majority coalition. The Murayama Cabinet was dominated by the LDP, but it allowed Socialist Tomiichi Murayama to occupy the Prime Minister's chair until 1996 when the LDP's Ryutaro Hashimoto took over.

1996–2009

In the 1996 election, the LDP made some gains but was still 12 seats short of a majority. However, no other party could possibly form a government, and Hashimoto formed a solidly LDP minority government. Through a series of floor-crossings, the LDP regained its majority within a year.

The party was practically unopposed until 1998 when the opposition Democratic Party of Japan was formed. This marked the beginning of the opposing parties' gains in momentum, especially in the 2003 and 2004 Parliamentary Elections, that would not slow for another 12 years.

In the dramatically paced 2003 House of Representatives elections, the LDP won 237 seats, while the DPJ won 177 seats. In the 2004 House of Councillors elections, in the seats up for grabs, the LDP won 49 seats and the DPJ 50, though in all seats (including those uncontested) the LDP still had a total of 114. Because of this electoral loss, former Secretary-General Shinzo Abe turned in his resignation, but Party President Koizumi merely demoted him in rank, and he was replaced by Tsutomu Takebe.

On 10 November 2003, the New Conservative Party (Hoshu Shintō) was absorbed into the LDP, a move which was largely because of the New Conservative Party's poor showing in the 2003 general election. The LDP formed a coalition with the conservative Buddhist New Komeito (party founded by Soka Gakkai) from Obuchi Second shuffle Cabinet (1999–2000).

After a victory in the 2005 Japanese general election, the LDP held an absolute majority in the Japanese House of Representatives and formed a coalition government with the New Komeito Party. Shinzo Abe succeeded then-Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi as the president of the party on 20 September 2006. The party suffered a major defeat in the election of 2007, however, and lost its majority in the upper house for the first time in its history.

The LDP remained the largest party in both houses of the Diet, until 29 July 2007, when the LDP lost its majority in the upper house.[25]

In a party leadership election held on 23 September 2007, the LDP elected Yasuo Fukuda as its president. Fukuda defeated Tarō Asō for the post, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Aso.[26] [27] However Fukuda resigned suddenly in September 2008, and Asō became Prime Minister after winning the presidency of the LDP in a five-way election.

In the 2009 general election, the LDP was roundly defeated, winning only 118 seats—easily the worst defeat of a sitting government in modern Japanese history, and also the first real transfer of political power in the post-war era. Accepting responsibility for this severe defeat, Aso announced his resignation as LDP president on election night. Sadakazu Tanigaki was elected leader of the party on 28 September 2009,[28] after a three-way race, becoming only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously prime minister.

2009–present

The party's support continued to decline, with prime ministers changing rapidly, and in the 2009 House of Representatives elections the LDP lost its majority, winning only 118 seats, marking the only time they would be out of the majority other than a brief period in 1993.[29] [30] Since that time, numerous party members have left to join other parties or form new ones, including, the [31] and the . The party had some success in the 2010 House of Councilors election, netting 13 additional seats and denying the DPJ a majority.[32] [33] Abe became the president again in September 2012 after a five-way race. The LDP returned to power with its ally New Komeito after winning a clear majority in the lower house general election on 16 December 2012 after just over three years in opposition. Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister for the second time preceded by Yoshihiko Noda who was the leader of the DPJ.[34]

In July 2015, the party pushed for expanded military powers to fight in foreign conflict through Shinzo Abe and the support of Komeito.[35]

Yoshihide Suga took over from Shinzo Abe in September 2020 after a three-way race. After Suga declined to run for re-election, successor Fumio Kishida led the party to a victory in the October 2021 Japanese general election after a four-way race, defying expectations.[36]

Despite support dropping in 2022 after the assassination of Shinzo Abe over connections between various party members and the Unification Church, the party had a good showing in the 2023 Japanese unified local elections, winning over half of the 2260 prefectural assembly seats being contested and six governorship positions.[37]

On 18–19 January 2024, following a scandal involving failure to report and misuse of ¥600 million in campaign funds by members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan's conservative Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai and Shisuikai factions in violation of Japanese campaign finance and election law, three factions (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, Shisuikai, in addition to PM Kishida's Kōchikai) all announced their intention to dissolve entirely in hopes of restoring public trust.[38] [39] Several LDP lawmakers were indicted, including incumbent lawmakers Yasutada Ōno and Yaichi Tanigawa, who both resigned from the party following their indictments.[40]

Ideology and political stance

The LDP is usually associated with conservatism,[7] Japanese nationalism[41] and being on the political right of the political spectrum. The LDP has been described as a variety of disparate ideologies such as conservative-liberal,[42] [43] liberal-conservative,[44] [45] social-conservative,[46] [47] ultranationalist,[48] [49] [50] and ultraconservative.[51] [52] The party though has not espoused a well-defined, unified ideology or political philosophy, due to its long-term government, and has been described as a "catch-all" party.[53]

The LDP members hold a variety of positions that could be broadly defined as being to the right of main opposition parties. Many of its ministers, including current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida[54] and former Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga,[55] and the late Shinzo Abe are/were affiliated with the parliamentary league of Nippon Kaigi, a far-right[56] traditionalist lobby group.[57] In Japanese politics, the convention is to classify the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party as occupying the conservative and progressive ends of the ideological spectrum respectively, however this classification faces challenges, especially among younger generations, after the 1990s.[58]

The LDP could also be compared to the corporatist-inspired model of conservative parties, such as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, in its relative openness towards economic interventionism, mixed market coordination and public expenditure, when compared to neoliberal orthodoxy.[59]

Historical

In the case of the LDP administration under the 1955 System in Japan, their degree of economic control was stronger than that of Western conservative governments; it was also positioned closer to social democracy.[60] Since the 1970s, the oil crisis has slowed economic growth and increased the resistance of urban citizens to policies that favor farmers.[61] To maintain its dominant position, the LDP sought to expand party supporters by incorporating social security policies and pollution measures advocated by opposition parties.[61] It was also historically closely positioned to corporate statism.[62] [63]

2021 manifesto

During the 2021 general election, the party released the LDP policy manifesto, titled "Create a new era together with you", which included among other things support for:[64] [65] [66]

Structure

At the apex of the LDP's formal organization is the, who can serve three[69] three-year terms. (The presidential term was increased from two years to three years in 2002 and from two to three terms in 2017). When the party has a parliamentary majority, the party president is the prime minister. The choice of party president is formally that of a party convention composed of Diet members and local LDP figures, but in most cases, they merely approved the joint decision of the most powerful party leaders. To make the system more democratic, Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda introduced a "primary" system in 1978, which opened the balloting to some 1.5 million LDP members. The process was so costly and acrimonious, however, that it was subsequently abandoned in favor of the old "smoke-filled room" method—so-called in allusion to the notion of closed discussions held in small rooms filled with tobacco smoke.

After the party president, the most important LDP officials are the Secretary-General (kanjicho), the chairmen of the LDP Executive Council (somukaicho), and of the .

Leadership

See main article: President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan). As of 30 June 2024:[70]

PositionNameHouseFaction
PresidentFumio KishidaRepresentativesNone
Vice PresidentTarō AsōRepresentativesAsō (Shikōkai)
Secretary-GeneralToshimitsu MotegiRepresentativesMotegi (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, General CouncilHiroshi MoriyamaRepresentativesMoriyama (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Policy Affairs Research CouncilKisaburo TokaiRepresentativesNone
Chairperson, Election Strategy CommitteeYuko ObuchiRepresentativesNone
Chairperson, Party Organization and Movement HeadquartersYasushi KanekoRepresentativesNone
Chairperson, Public Relations HeadquartersTakuya HiraiRepresentativesNone
Chairperson, Diet Affairs CommitteeYasukazu HamadaRepresentativesNone
Executive Acting Secretary-GeneralHiroshi KajiyamaRepresentativesNone
Chairperson, General Assembly of Party Members of the House of CouncillorsMasakazu SekiguchiCouncillorsTakeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Secretary-General for the LDP in the House of CouncillorsMasaji MatsuyamaCouncillorsNone

Factions

See main article: Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan).

Since the genesis of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1955, factions have existed, but they have changed over time. Despite this change, factions in the party today can be traced back to their 1955 roots, a testament to the stability and institutionalized nature of Liberal Democratic Party factions.[71] The party's history and internal composition have been characterized by intense factionalism ever since its emergence in 1955, with its parliamentary members currently split among six factions, each of which vies for influence in the party and the government. The incumbent Prime Minister and party president, Fumio Kishida, was the leader of the now defunct Kōchikai faction from 2012 until his resignation in 2023.

Current factions in the LDP include:

NameIdeologyPolitical positionLeaderMembers
Right-wingTarō Asō[72] 56
ConservatismRight-wingToshimitsu Motegi[73] 53
??Hiroshi Moriyama[74] 8
IndependentN/A78

Membership

The LDP had over 5.5 million party members in 1991.[75] By December 2017, membership had dropped to approximately one million members.[3]

Performance in national elections until 1993

See also: Elections in Japan. Election statistics show that, while the LDP had been able to secure a majority in the twelve House of Representatives elections from May 1958 to February 1990, with only three exceptions (December 1976, October 1979, and December 1983), its share of the popular vote had declined from a high of 57.8% in May 1958 to a low of 41.8% in December 1976, when voters expressed their disgust with the party's involvement in the Lockheed scandal. The LDP vote rose again between 1979 and 1990. Although the LDP won an unprecedented 300 seats in the July 1986 balloting, its share of the popular vote remained just under 50%. The figure was 46.2% in February 1990. Following the three occasions when the LDP found itself a handful of seats shy of a majority, it was obliged to form alliances with conservative independents and the breakaway New Liberal Club. In a cabinet appointment after the October 1983 balloting, a non-LDP minister, a member of the New Liberal Club, was appointed for the first time. On 18 July 1993, in lower house elections, the LDP fell so far short of a majority that it was unable to form a government.

In the upper house, the July 1989 election represented the first time that the LDP was forced into a minority position. In previous elections, it had either secured a majority on its own or recruited non-LDP conservatives to make up the difference of a few seats.

The political crisis of 1988–89 was testimony to both the party's strength and its weakness. In the wake of a succession of issues—the pushing of a highly unpopular consumer tax through the Diet in late 1988, the Recruit insider trading scandal, which tainted virtually all top LDP leaders and forced the resignation of Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru in April (a successor did not appear until June), the resignation in July of his successor, Uno Sōsuke, because of a sex scandal, and the poor showing in the upper house election—the media provided the Japanese with a detailed and embarrassing dissection of the political system. By March 1989, popular support for the Takeshita cabinet as expressed in public opinion polls had fallen to 9%. Uno's scandal, covered in magazine interviews of a "kiss and tell" geisha, aroused the fury of female voters.

Uno's successor, the eloquent if obscure Kaifu Toshiki, was successful in repairing the party's battered image. By January 1990, talk of the waning of conservative power and a possible socialist government had given way to the realization that, like the Lockheed affair of the mid-1970s, the Recruit scandal did not signal a significant change in who ruled Japan. The February 1990 general election gave the LDP, including affiliated independents, a comfortable, if not spectacular, majority: 275 of 512 total representatives.

In October 1991, Prime Minister Kaifu Toshiki failed to attain passage of a political reform bill and was rejected by the LDP, despite his popularity with the electorate. He was replaced as prime minister by Miyazawa Kiichi, a long-time LDP stalwart. Defections from the LDP began in the spring of 1992, when Hosokawa Morihiro left the LDP to form the Japan New Party. Later, in the summer of 1993, when the Miyazawa government also failed to pass political reform legislation, thirty-nine LDP members joined the opposition in a no-confidence vote. In the ensuing lower house election, more than fifty LDP members formed the Shinseitō and the Sakigake parties, denying the LDP the majority needed to form a government.

Election results

Legislative results

House of Representatives

+ House of Representatives
ElectionLeaderNo. of
candidates
SeatsPositionConstituency votesPR Block votesStatus
No.±ShareNo.ShareNo.Share
1958Nobusuke Kishi41361.8%1st22,976,846 57.80%
1960Hayato Ikeda399 1164.2% 1st22,740,27257.56%
1963359 1760.5% 1st22,423,91554.67%
1967Eisaku Satō342 656.9% 1st22,447,83848.80%
1969328 1159.2% 1st22,381,57047.63%
1972Kakuei Tanaka339 1755.1% 1st24,563,19946.85%
1976Takeo Miki320 2248.7% 1st23,653,62641.78%
1979Masayoshi Ōhira322 148.5% 1st24,084,13144.59%
1980310 3655.5% 1st28,262,44247.88%
1983Yasuhiro Nakasone339 3448.9% 1st25,982,78545.76%
1986322 5058.5% 1st29,875,50149.42%
1990Toshiki Kaifu338 2553.7% 1st30,315,41746.14%
1993Kiichi Miyazawa285 5243.6% 1st22,999,64636.62%
1996Ryutaro Hashimoto355 1647.8% 1st21,836,09638.63%18,205,95532.76%
2000Yoshirō Mori337 648.5% 1st24,945,80640.97%16,943,42528.31%
2003Junichiro Koizumi336 449.3% 1st26,089,32643.85%20,660,18534.96%
2005346 5961.6% 1st32,518,38947.80%25,887,79838.20%
2009Tarō Asō326 17724.7% 2nd27,301,98238.68%18,810,21726.73%
2012Shinzo Abe337 17561.2% 1st25,643,30943.01%16,624,45727.79%
2014352 361.2% 1st25,461,42748.10%17,658,91633.11%
2017332 761.0% 1st26,719,032 48.21%18,555,71733.28%
2021Fumio Kishida338 2555.7% 1st27,626,23548.08%19,914,88334.66%

House of Councillors

+ House of Councillors
ElectionLeaderSeatsNationwidePrefectureStatus
TotalContestedNumber%Number%
1956Ichirō Hatoyama11,356,87439.7%14,353,96048.4%
1959Nobusuke Kishi12,120,59841.2%15,667,02252.0%
1962Hayato Ikeda16,581,63746.4%17,112,98647.1%
1965Eisaku Satō17,583,49047.2%16,651,28444.2%
196820,120,08946.7%19,405,54644.9%
197117,759,39544.5%17,727,26344.0%
1974Kakuei Tanaka23,332,77344.3%21,132,37239.5%
1977Takeo Fukuda18,160,06135.8%20,440,15739.5%
1980Masayoshi Ōhira23,778,19043.3%24,533,08342.5%
1983Yasuhiro Nakasone16,441,43735.3%19,975,03443.2%
198622,132,57338.58%26,111,25845.07%
1989Sōsuke Uno15,343,45527.32%17,466,40630.70%
1992Kiichi Miyazawa14,961,19933.29%20,528,29345.23%
1995Yōhei Kōno10,557,54725.40%11,096,97227.29%
1998Ryutaro Hashimoto14,128,71925.17%17,033,85130.45%
2001Junichiro Koizumi21,114,72738.57%22,299,82541.04%
200416,797,68630.03%19,687,95435.08%
2007Shinzo Abe16,544,69628.1%18,606,19331.35%
2010Sadakazu Tanigaki14,071,67124.07%19,496,08333.38%
2013Shinzo Abe18,460,40434.7%22,681,19242.7%
201620,114,83335.9%22,590,79339.9%
201917,712,37335.37%20,030,33039.77%
2022Fumio Kishida18,256,24534.43%20,603,29838.74%

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 自民党学生部 . 2024-02-21 . www.tokyo-jimin.jp.
  2. Book: Endo . Masahisa . Pekkanen . Robert . Pekkanen . Robert . Critical Readings on the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan . 2018 . The LDP: Return to Dominance? Or a Golden Age Built on Sand? . https://books.google.com/books?id=poN1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1626 . 4 . 1626 . . 978-90-04-38055-4 . 31 May 2023 . The Jiyu Minshu, the LDP’s party paper, began to focus on rural development from June 2014..
  3. Web site: 2020-03-02 . 自民党員7年ぶり減少 108万人、19年末時点 . 2024-02-21 . 日本経済新聞 . ja.
  4. Web site: https://www.jimin.jp/aboutus/song_symbol/ . ja:党歌・シンボル. jimin.jp. 3 September 2018.
  5. Web site: 自民党 . jimin.jp . 25 May 2023.
  6. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, party membership statistics for chief executives and assembly members in prefectures and municipalities: Prefectural and local assembly members and governors/mayors by political party as of 31 December 2023
  7. The Liberal Democratic Party is widely described as conservative:
  8. Web site: 2023-06-13 . Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) . 2023-06-17 . . en.
  9. News: Returns . Japan Election . Japan's election results in return of power to old guard . NY Times . Martin Fackler . 16 December 2012.
  10. News: Japan's ruling party unveils manifesto with focus on coronavirus, defence. Reuters . 12 October 2021 . 25 December 2022 . Ju-min . Park.
  11. Tsukamoto . Takashi . 2012 . Neoliberalization of the developmental state: Tokyo's bottom-up politics and state rescaling in Japan . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research . 36 . 1 . 71–89 . 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2011.01057.x.
  12. News: The state of play for the LDP's factions after October's Lower House election. Japan Times . 17 November 2021 . 6 December 2021 . Eric . Johnston.
  13. Web site: Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan political party, Japan. 2021-11-02. Encyclopedia Britannica. en.
  14. News: Top Party . Japan's . Japan's top party loses majority in 1993 general election . 4 May 2022 . The Washington Post . TR. Reid . 19 July 1993.
  15. News: C.I.A. Spent Millions to Support Japanese Right in 50's and 60's . The New York Times . 9 October 1994 . 29 December 2007 . Tim . Weiner.
  16. Web site: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Vol. XXIX, Part 2, Japan. United States Department of State. 18 July 2006. 29 December 2007.
  17. Johnson, Chalmers . The 1955 System and the American Connection: A Bibliographic Introduction . JPRI Working Paper No. 11 . 1995 . 3 March 2016 . 25 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200725191810/http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp11.html . dead .
  18. News: Weiner . Tim . 1994-10-09 . C.I.A. Spent Millions to Support Japanese Right in 50's and 60's . 2024-05-08 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  19. Web site: 2013-05-17 . 岸信介とCIAの密接な関係 自民党にも金の流れ? . 2024-05-08 . AERA dot. (アエラドット) . ja.
  20. Web site: 2006-07-20 . U.S. admits CIA gave LDP money in 1950s, 1960s . 2024-05-08 . The Japan Times . English.
  21. News: Clark . Gregory . Tribune . International Herald . 1993-08-04 . Opinion A New Japan Gets a Less Than Saintly Coalition . 2024-05-08 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  22. Web site: International Democrat Union, minutes of founding meeting, 1983.
  23. Life after harakiri . Charles . Smith . Far Eastern Economic Review . 15–17 . 10 August 1989.
  24. Book: William D. Hoover. William D. Hoover. Historical Dictionary of Postwar Japan, Second Edition. 2019. Rowman & Littlefield. 9781538111567. 268.
  25. News: Norimitsu Onishi . Yasuko Kamiizumi . Makiko Inoue . Premier's Party Suffers Big Defeat in Japan . The New York Times . 29 July 2007 . 29 July 2007.
  26. News: Naomi. Martig. Japan's Ruling Party Chooses New Leader. VOA News. 23 September 2007. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080820033055/http://voanews.com/english/2007-09-23-voa5.cfm. 20 August 2008.
  27. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070923dy01.htm "Fukuda wins LDP race / Will follow in footsteps of father as prime minister"
  28. Sadakazu Tanigaki Elected LDP President Web site: China Plus . 3 March 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160310033921/http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/09/28/1781s519095.htm . 10 March 2016 . Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  29. News: 'Major win' for Japan opposition. BBC News. 30 August 2009. 31 August 2009.
  30. News: http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=pol_date1&k=2009083101337. https://web.archive.org/web/20140220083756/http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=pol_date1&k=2009083101337. dead. 20 February 2014. ja:衆院党派別得票数・率(比例代表). Jiji . ja . 31 August 2009.
  31. News: Martin. Alex. LDP defectors launch new political party. The Japan Times. 11 April 2010. 11 October 2016.
  32. Web site: House of Councillors The National Diet of Japan. 12 July 2015.
  33. Web site: http://www.webtv.sangiin.go.jp/webtv/index.php . ja:参議院インターネット審議中継. 12 July 2015.
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  35. Web site: Japan Moves to Allow Military Combat for First Time in 70 Years. https://web.archive.org/web/20160814103212/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/world/asia/japans-lower-house-passes-bills-giving-military-freer-hand-to-fight.html?_r=0 . dead . Jonathan. Soble. 16 July 2015. 14 August 2016. NYTimes.com.
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  49. Web site: Why Steve Bannon Admires Japan. In Japan, populist and extreme right-wing nationalism has found a home within the political establishment.. The Diplomat. 22 June 2018.
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