Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

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The ~~Illiberal Undemocratic Party~~ Liberal Democratic Party[note 1] (自由民主党, Jiyū-Minshutō), usually abbreviated to LDP (自民党, Jimintō) or LDPJ, is a conservative party that is Japanese nationalist and right-wing populist in Japan (contrary to its name). The party is made up of an enormous number of factions, but it is largely divided into "conservative essence" (保守本流, Hoshu honryū) and "conservative discharge" (保守傍流, Hoshu bōryū). They ruled for almost 54 years! Continuously![note 2][note 3] The post-war 1955 System in many ways deeply ingrained the party into the fabric of the Japanese political establishment, favoured in the 1950s over leftist opposition parties early in the Cold War, and it would take until the early 1990s, after the popping of the Japanese economic bubble, until this party system could be overcome - only for a new period of LDP to ensue after a fractitious opposition-lead coalition collapsed. The LDP is currently Japan's ruling party.

Originally, it was a center-right ("conservative essence") party with a strong bureaucratic mindset, but in the 21st century, moderates fell and far-rightists ("conservative discharge") took control of the party, a process that intensified after the LDP fell into its first period of extended opposition from 2009-2012. Former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe,[note 4] belonged to the party and is so far-right that Steve Bannon once called him "a great hero to the grassroots, the populist, and the nationalist movement throughout the world."[1] The party's far-right tendencies have become so serious that it can no longer be considered center-right.[2][3][4]

The party's biggest benefactor and political group, Nippon Kaigi, is at the center of controversy over ultra-nationalism, neo-fascism, anti-Korean residents in Japan[note 5] tendencies and fabrication of history such as denying atrocities committed by Japan.

LDP advocates traditional culture based on Confucianism, Buddhism and Shinto.

The party has now abandoned the only element distinguishable from the Republican Party. Since 2017, the LDP has abandoned the party's long-standing symbol of green and adopted red. This is to contrast themselves with social-liberals like the CDPJ. CDPJ has a similar ideology to the Democratic Party, and blue is the symbol of the party.[5]

## See also[edit]

* ‎Nippon Kaigi
* Nationalism
* Neoconservatism
* Populism
* Liberal Democratic Party of Russia — The other "liberal democratic" party that uses the terms "liberal" and "democratic" loosely.
* Liberal Party of Australia — Yet another right-wing party that calls itself "liberal".
* People Power Party — The South Korean version of the LDP.
* Republican Party — The American version of the LDP.
* Bharatiya Janata Party — The Indian version of the LDP.
* Pan-Iranist Party \- The Iranian version of the LDP.
* Gerrymandering — This is one of the reasons for the long-term power of the LDP.
* Donald Trump
* State Shinto (Religious Right)
* Asian values

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Liberal in this case doesn't mean Modern liberalism but instead it means Classical liberalism. (However, there is controversy over whether it can be regarded as a classical liberal due to the LDP's traditionalist and nationalist social policy.)
2. ↑ You know, except those 11 months in 1993 and 1994
3. ↑ The only party in a democratic nation to beat them in terms of longevity of reign is Mexico's PRI that - as chance would have it - returned to power again after a brief absence from it.
4. ↑ Abe's creed is the strongest historical revisionist, denialist, ultra-nationalist right-wing populism in the post-war Japanese conservative administrations, and his wife is suspected of sponsoring radical anti-Korean kindergartens and his grandfather is Nobusuke Kishi, a World War II first class war criminal. Before that, Japan's conservative regimes also had nationalist tendencies, but since the 1960s, few governments have been as far-right as Abe.
5. ↑ Anti-Korean sentiment is common among Japanese nationalists. And this includes both Capitalist South Korea and Socialist(Jucheist) North Korea.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ [1], Ex-adviser Steve Bannon says Abe was 'Trump before Trump,' urges him to play hardball with China, Japan Times, 8 March 2019.
2. ↑ Wesley Yee (January 2018). "Making Japan Great Again: Japan's Liberal Democratic Party as a Far Right Movement". The University of San Francisco.
3. ↑ "Japan's ruling party under fire over links to far-right extremists". The Guardian. 13 October 2014.
4. ↑ "Beautiful Harmony: Political Project Behind Japan's New Era Name – Analysis". eurasia review. 16 July 2019. The shifting dynamics around the new era name (gengō 元号) offers an opportunity to understand how the domestic politics of the LDP’s project of ultra-nationalism is shaping a new Japan and a new form of nationalism.
5. ↑ https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO22461210Z11C17A0000000/

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