List of political parties in Japan


There are thousands of political parties in Japan. Any organization that supports any candidate needs to register itself as a political party. Each of these parties have some local or national influence. This article lists political parties in Japan with representation in the National Diet, either in the House of Representatives and/or in the House of Councillors.

Parties currently represented in the national Diet

Legal status as political party is tied to having five members in the Diet or at least two percent nationally of either proportional or local vote in the last Representatives or one of the last two Councillors elections. Political parties receive public party funding, are allowed to concurrently nominate candidates for the House of Representatives in an electoral district and on a proportional list, may take political donations from legal persons, i.e. corporations, and other benefits such as air time on public broadcaster NHK.

Parties currently represented in prefectural and municipal assemblies (incomplete)

Note: In legal terms, all of the parties below are "political organizations", not "political parties".

Existing national parties represented in the Diet in the past

Current political parties that used to be in the Diet but are not currently represented:
Japan has other minor parties not represented in Parliament, some are new, others with communist and socialist ideologies, as well as a few nationalist, reformist, and far-right parties. Some of them include:

Former major parties

Pre- and early constitutional era

In 1940, all remaining political parties with the exception of the Tōhōkai became part of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association or were banned.

Postwar Japan

Note: Postwar parties often give themselves "English" names which sometimes differ significantly from translations of their Japanese names.
LDP precursor and breakaway parties