National Cooperative Party

The National Cooperative Party (Japanese: 国民協同党, Hepburn: Kokumin Kyōdōtō) was a centrist political party in Japan.

National Cooperative Party 国民協同党 Kokumin Kyōdōtō
Founded	8 March 1947[1][2]
Dissolved	28 April 1950[3]
Merger of	Cooperative Democratic Party[2][4] National Party[2][4]
Merged into	National Democratic Party[2][5]
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Ideology	Co-operatism[2] Revisionist capitalism[4] Humanitarianism[2]
Political position	Centre[2][4][5]
Politics of Japan Political parties Elections

History

The party was established on 8 March 1947 as a merger of the Cooperative Democratic Party and the National Party following seven months of talks.[6] The merger was the result of fears that a new electoral system would make it more difficult for small parties to gain representation.[6] Although it initially had 78 MPs,[1] a group of 15 led by Heima Hayashi left to join the Democratic Party.

In the 1947 elections the party won 31 seats in the House of Representatives and nine in the House of Councillors. It joined Tetsu Katayama's coalition government and was given two cabinet positions; party chairman Takeo Miki was appointed Minister of Communications and Junzo Sasamori Minister in charge of the Demobilisation Agency.[6] When Hitoshi Ashida formed a new government in 1948, the NCP remained in the coalition, with Okada Seiichi and Funada Kyōji appointed to the cabinet.[6]

In early 1948 three MPs left to form the Social Reformist Party, and the party left the government when Ashida resigned later in the year. The 1949 elections saw the party reduced to 14 seats. In May 1949 it merged with the New Farmers' Party, the Social Reformist Party and several small parliamentary factions to form the New Politics Council.[6]

In February 1950 the party was briefly re-established when several former party MPs left the New Politics Council, but in April 1950 it merged with the New Politics Council and the Democratic Party to form the National Democratic Party.

References

1. Kanda 1983, p. 238.
2. Yoshida, Kenji. 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)の解説 [The Nihon Dai Hyakka Zensho: Encyclopedia Nipponica 's explanation]. kotobank.jp (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
3. Kanda 1983, p. 355.
4. 世界大百科事典 第2版の解説 [The Heibonsha World Encyclopedia (2nd ed.) 's explanation]. kotobank.jp (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
5. ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典の解説 [The Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia 's explanation]. kotobank.jp (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
6. Haruhiro Fukui (1985) Political parties of Asia and the Pacific, Greenwood Press, pp576–577

Further reading

• Kanda, Fuhito (1983). Senryō to minshu shugi. Showa no Rekishi (in Japanese). 8. Tokyo: Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-376008-X.