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Japan TOWARD A NEW CENTURY, 1953-87
Political Developments
Political parties had begun to revive almost
immediately after
the occupation began. Left-wing organizations, such as the
Japan
Socialist Party and the Japan Communist Party, quickly
reestablished themselves, as did various conservative
parties. The
old Seiyokai and Rikken Minseito came back as,
respectively, the
Liberal Party (Nihon Jiyuto) and the Japan Progressive
Party (Nihon
Shimpoto). The first postwar elections were held in 1946
(women
were given the franchise for the first time), and the
Liberal
Party's vice president, Yoshida Shigeru (1878-1967),
became prime
minister. For the 1947 elections, anti-Yoshida forces left
the
Liberal Party and joined forces with the Progressive Party
to
establish the new Democratic Party (Minshuto). This
divisiveness in
conservative ranks gave a plurality to the Japan Socialist
Party,
which was allowed to form a cabinet, which lasted less
than a year.
Thereafter, the socialist party steadily declined in its
electoral
successes. After a short period of Democratic Party
administration,
Yoshida returned in late 1948 and continued to serve as
prime
minister until 1954.
Even before Japan regained full sovereignty, the
government had
rehabilitated nearly 80,000 people who had been purged,
many of
whom returned to their former political and government
positions.
A debate over limitations on military spending and the
sovereignty
of the emperor ensued, contributing to the great reduction
in the
Liberal Party's majority in the first postoccupation
elections
(October 1952). After several reorganizations of the armed
forces,
in 1954 the Self-Defense Forces were established under a
civilian
director
(see The Self-Defense Forces
, ch. 8). Cold War
realities
and the hot war in nearby Korea also contributed
significantly to
the United States-influenced economic redevelopment, the
suppression of communism, and the discouragement of
organized labor
in Japan during this period.
Continual fragmentation of parties and a succession of
minority
governments led conservative forces to merge the Liberal
Party
(Jiyuto) with the Japan Democratic Party (Nihon Minshuto),
an
offshoot of the earlier Democratic Party, to form the
Liberal
Democratic Party (Jiyu-Minshuto; LDP) in November 1955.
This party
continuously held power from 1955 through 1993, when it
was
replaced by a new minority government
(see The Liberal Democratic Party
, ch. 6). LDP leadership was drawn from the elite who
had seen
Japan through the defeat and occupation; it attracted
former
bureaucrats, local politicians, businessmen, journalists,
other
professionals, farmers, and university graduates. In
October 1955,
socialist groups reunited under the Japan Socialist Party,
which
emerged as the second most powerful political force. It
was
followed closely in popularity by the Komeito (Clean
Government
Party), founded in 1964 as the political arm of the Soka
Gakkai
(Value Creation Society), a lay organization of the
Buddhist sect
Nichiren Shoshu
(see Komeito
, ch. 6). The Komeito
emphasized
traditional Japanese beliefs and attracted urban laborers,
former
rural residents, and many women. Like the Japan Socialist
Party, it
favored the gradual modification and dissolution of the
JapanUnited States Mutual Security Assistance Pact.
Data as of January 1994
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