Japan Socialist Party
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Japan Socialist Party (日本社会党) (in Japanese Nihon Shakai-to) was a former Japanese political party with a socialist, left-wing ideology, which functioned between 1945 and 1996.
History
The Japan Socialist Party was the first political party to form after the end of World War II. It began as an extreme revolutionary socialist party, but within a couple of years, it had become a regular socialist party. Opposing parties also began to form, including the Liberals (even though they were conservative) and the Democrats, with a more agrarian agenda. In 1947, Katayama Tetsu, a socialist, was elected Prime Minister, and the socialists won a majority in the Diet of Japan. The government collapsed in 1948 because of Marxist rebellion within the party, and by the end of the 1940's, the JSP had split into two parties - the Rightist Socialist Party of Japan, made up of moderate social-democrats, and the Leftist Socialist Party of Japan, made up of Marxist-socialists. In 1955, the two sides reconciled and merged, and the Japan Socialist Party was reborn. The Japan Socialist Party, even while in the opposition, remained the largest party until 1955, when the Liberals and Democrats merged and formed the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (Japan).
From this point the Japan Socialist Party won very few seats. It did however, function as the main opposition force to the Liberal Democrats, in addition to the Communists, and other small parties. It had varying degrees of electoral success, but it did not return to power after 1948, instead serving as the perennial opposition to the Liberal Democrats.
In 1960, a breakaway group (formed by the most moderate faction of the old Rightist Socialist Party of Japan) formed the Democratic Socialist Party (Japan), but the remnants of the Socialist Party were preserved.
In 1986 Takako Doi became the chairwoman of the party, and became speaker of the House of Representatives, ushering in new popularity for the party. This reached its peak in 1993, when the LDP was defeated by the liberal Japan Renewal Party and its allies, which included the JSP. The liberals in control of the coalition, such as the JRP and the Japan New Party, treated the radicals with disrespect. Thus, the New Party Sakigake and JSP left the coalition and joined with the LDP in the opposition. The LDP and JSP thus put aside their long fight. The Communists and the Komeito Party remained in the coalition.
In 1994, the JSP came to power for the first time since 1948 under Tomiichi Murayama, in coalition with the LDP and New Party Sakigake. But by 1996, the LDP had returned to power, and the JSP withdrew from the coalition. Chairwoman Doi wanted to heavily reform the party, so she dissolved the JSP in 1996 and created a new, more moderate, social-democratic party, the Social Democratic Party (Japan).
After the dissolution of the JSP, the new SDP failed to repilcate earlier successes. When the Democratic Party formed in 1998, it supplanted the JSP's traditional role as a strong, social-democratic and liberal force. In the late nineties the SDP began a long decline. Currently, the party has hardly any seats in the Diet and is the smallest Japanese political party at present. There are talks going on regarding a merger between the SDP and the Democratic Party of Japan. A recently formed organisation Young Socialists (Japan), which retains a full membership of International Union of Socialist Youth), is said to be inherited from the political tradition of Rightist Socialists.
The party was left-wing, and socialist on domestic policy. It is now defunct.
See Also
- Japan
- Politics of Japan
- List of political parties in Japan
- Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
- Rightist Socialist Party of Japan
- Leftist Socialist Party of Japan
- Social Democratic Party (Japan)
- Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)
- Japanese Communist Party
- Democratic Party of Japan
- New Party Sakigake
