Democratic Party (Japan, 1996)

Democratic Party of Japan

民主党
*Minshutō*
Democratic Party of Japan 民主党; Minshutō
President	Naoto Kan
Chief Secretary	Yukio Hatoyama
Founders	Naoto Kan; Yukio Hatoyama
Founded	29 September 1996
Dissolved	27 April 1998
Split from	New Party Sakigake; Social Democratic Party of Japan
Merged into	Democratic Party of Japan
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Centre
	Politics of Japan; Political parties; Elections;

The Democratic Party of Japan (民主党, Minshutō) was a centrist^[1]^[2]^[3] political party in Japan, and one of the forerunners to the Democratic Party of Japan formed in 1998. Its two leading members, Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, subsequently and sequentially became Prime Ministers at the end of the first decade of the 21st century.

^ Eiji Takemae (2003). Allied Occupation of Japan. Continuum. p. 540. ISBN 978-0-8264-1521-9.
^ Glenn D. Hook; Julie Gilson; Christopher W. Hughes; Hugo Dobson (2013). Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-134-32806-2.
^ "Japan's fractured opposition unites as Suga set to succeed Shinzo Abe as prime minister". CNBC.com. CNBC. Reuters. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2021. The centrist Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), founded in 1996, has long struggled with internal dissent.