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| Shinto Yuai |
Shinto YuaiThe New Fraternity Party (新党友愛 Shinto Yuai) was a Japanese political party that existed in early 1998. It was founded by Diet members that broke away from the New Frontier Party in January 1998. It was a liberal party espousing various left of centre causes.
The name has its origins in the Taisho era democracy movements, which used the word yuai (fraternity) as a motto. The party also claimed that yuai had a phonetic similarity to the English "you and I", representing their hope of cooperating with ordinary Japanese.
The party was led by Lower House member Nakano Kansei, now a member of the Democratic Party .
In April 1998, the New Fraternity Party merged with the Good Governance Party, the Democratic Party of Japan (1996) and the Democratic Reform Party(民主改革連合, Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengo) to form the Democratic Party .
Category: Political parties in Japan
ja:新党友愛
1998
1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean.
Events
January
- January 1998 - A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths.
- January 1 - Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
- January 2 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
- January 2 - Gunman shoots Antario Teodoro Filho, Brazilian politician and radio presenter, in a middle of his broadcast.
- January 4 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 4 January 1998 in Algeria; over 170 killed in three remote villages.
- January 6 - The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon and later found evidence for frozen water in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles.
- January 8 - Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the World Trade Center bombing.
- January 8 - Cosmologists announce that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing.
- January 11 - Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria; over 100 people killed.
- January 12 - 19 European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
- January 13 - A tourist visiting the White House sprays paint on to marble busts of Giuseppe Ceracchi
- January 14 - Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis).
- January 15 - The stalker of Howard Stern, Lance Carvin, is sentenced to 2 1/2 years for threatening to kill Stern and his family.
- January 16 - NASA announces that John Glenn will return to space when Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off in October 1998.
- January 17 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
- January 20 - Nepalese police intercepts a shipment of 272 human skulls in Kathmandu
- January 22 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
- January 26 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- January 26 - Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation.
- January 26 - Monkeys attack people in Ito, Japan
- January 27 - American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on the Today show calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
- January 28 - Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion.
- January 28 - Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines.
- January 29 - In Birmingham, Alabama a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.
February
- February - Iraq disarmament crisis: The United States Senate passes resolution 71, which urged President Bill Clinton to "take all necessary and appropriate actions to respond to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
- February 3 - Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the death of 20 people near Trento, Italy when his low-flying plane severs the cable of a cable-car.
- February 3 - Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.
- February 4 - An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000.
- February 6 - Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
- February 6 - The French prefect Claude Erignac is assassinated in the streets of Ajaccio (Corse) by a commando of Corsican insurgents, among them Yvan Colonna (trial june 2).
- February 7 - Roger Nicholas Angleton committed suicide in a prison cell in Houston, Texas by cutting himself with razor blades. He admitted to murdering socialite Doris Angleton in her River Oaks home in his suicide note.
- February 10 - A college dropout becomes the first person to be convicted of a hate crime committed in cyberspace.
- February 10 - Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
- February 12 - The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by a United States federal judge.
- February 14 - Authorities in the United States announce that Eric Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing.
- February 15 - Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 in his 20th try after many unsucsessful attempts.
- February 16 - China Airlines Flight 676 crashed into a residential area near by Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people, included all 196 on board and six on the ground.
- February 18 - Two white separatists were arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
- February 19 - 66-day blackout begins in Auckland, New Zealand.
- February 19 - Larry Wayne Harris of the Aryan Nations and William Leavitt are arrested in Henderson, New York for possession of military grade anthrax
- February 20 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the U.S. and Britain.
- February 22 - Collapse of one third of the Tower block "Palace II" in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- February 23 - Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 (see Florida El Niño Outbreak).
- February 23 - Osama bin Laden publishes fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.
- February 24 - Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is acquitted of charges of defamation of Jerry Falwell.
- February 24 - A man tries to hijack Turkish Airlines passenger plane claiming that he has a bomb in his teddy bear. Passengers disapprove and apprehend him
- February 28 - Serbian police begin to wipe out so-called "terrorist gangs" in Kosovo.
March
- March 1 - Attack Submarine USS Sea Devil (now ex-Sea Devil (SSN-664)) starts to be deactivated
- March 2 - Data sent from the Galileo probe indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice
- March 4 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
- March 5 - NASA announced that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon had found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station
- March 5 - NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle Columbia mission to launch an X-ray telescope making Collins the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission.
- March 6 - Closure of the South Crofty tin mine
- March 6 - The Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan is fined for burning a cross in his garden and infringing air regulations in California
- March 10 - American troops stationed in the Persian Gulf begin to receive the first vaccinations against anthrax.
- March 11 - Danish parliamentary election held, unexpectedly returning Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen to power.
- March 14 - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hits southeastern Iran
- March 23 - At the Academy Awards ceremony Titanic wins 11 Oscars
- March 24 - In Jonesboro, Arkansas, two young boys (aged 11 and 13 years) fire upon students at Westside Middle School while hidden in woodlands near the school. Four students and one teacher are killed and 10 injured
- March 26 - Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria; 52 people killed with axes and knives, 32 of them babies under the age of 2.
- March 27 - The FDA approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, becoming the first pill to be approved to treat this condition in the United States.
April
- April 1 - Ukrainian serial killer Anatoly Onoprienko is sentenced to death for 52 murders
- April 5 - In Japan, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshu and costing cost about US$3.8 billion, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
- April 6 - Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of hitting India
- April 7 - Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge creating the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup
- April 8 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM reports to the UN Security Council that Iraq's declaration on its biological weapons program is incomplete and inadequate.
- April 10 - Good Friday: 18 hours after the end of talks deadline the Belfast Agreement is signed between the Irish and British governments and most Northern Ireland political parties, with the notable exception of the Democratic Unionist Party.
- April 16 - A massive tornado occurred in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the first tornado in 11 years to make a direct hit on a major city. (see Nashville Tornado of 1998)
- April 25 - A waste reservoir at Los Frailes mine in Andalusia, Spain, ruptures, discharging heavy metal waste into the Guadiamar River. The pollution threatens the sensitive ecosystem and endangered species of Doñana National Park, Spain's largest nature reserve, but is diverted into the Guadalquivir River. Up to 100 km² of farmland are ruined by the spill. [http://edition.cnn.com/EARTH/9804/25/spain.disaster.reut/]
May
- May 2 - Japanese rock star hide (Hideto Matsumoto) mysteriously dies of asphyxiation.
- May 7 - Apple Computer unveils the iMac.
- May 9 - Dana International, a transexual singer from Israel, wins the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham,UK.
- May 11 - Nuclear testing: In the Rajasthan Desert, India conducts its second series of underground nuclear tests (the first were in 1974) and inflaming its rival neighbor Pakistan (who already has nuclear weapons).
- May 13 - Following India's second round of nuclear tests the United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on the nation.
- May 15 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM learns that an Iraqi delegation has travelled to Bucharest to meet with scientists who can provide the country with missile guidance systems.
- May 18 - United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft
- May 21 - School shooting: At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students killing 2 wounding 25 others after killing his parents at home
- May 21 - Reproductive rights: In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker
- May 21 - Suharto resigns, after 32 years as Indonesian President and 7th consecutive re-election by the Indonesian Parliament (MPR). Suharto's hand-picked Vice President, B. J. Habibie, became Indonesia's third president.
- May 21 to September 30 - Expo '98 is held in Lisbon, Portugal, with the title "Oceans, an Heritage for the Future". UNESCO had previously declared 1998 to be the International Year of the Oceans due to the Expo. 12 million people attend the world fair
- May 22 - Lewinsky scandal: A federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal
- May 27 - Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
- May 28 - Nuclear testing: In response to a series of Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan explodes six nuclear devices of its own in the Chaghai hills of Baluchistan, prompting the United States, Japan and other nations to impose economic sanctions.
- May 28 - Wife of US comedian Phil Hartman kills him and commits suicide afterwards
- May 30 - Nuclear testing: Pakistan conducts two more nuclear explosions following its first test.
- May 30 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits northern Afghanistan killing up to 5,000.
- May 31 - Geri Halliwell, better known as "Ginger Spice", announced her departure from the biggest selling girl group of all time, the Spice Girls
June
- June 2 - The CIH virus is discovered in Taiwan.
- June 2 - Voters in California approved California Proposition 227, abolishing that state's bilingual education program.
- June 3 - Eschede train disaster: an ICE high speed train derails, causing 101 deaths.
- June 4 - Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing
- July 5 - Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation
- June 5 - A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants (the strike lasted seven weeks)
- June 8 - Charlton Heston assumes the presidency of the National Rifle Association.
- June 8 - President Sani Abacha of Nigeria dies of apparent heart failure
- June 12 - A jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, convicts 17-year-old Luke Woodham of killing two students and wounding seven others at Pearl High School [http://www.cnn.com/US/9806/12/school.shooting.verdict/]
- June 12 - 13-year old Christina Marie Williams was kidnapped in Seaside, California while taking her dog for a walk.
- June 14 - The Chicago Bulls win their sixth NBA title in 8 years when they beat the Utah Jazz, 87-86 in Game Six. This is also Michael Jordan's last game as a Bull.
- June 16 - The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Washington Capitals in 4 games in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 25 - In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
July
- July 6 - The new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok opens.
- July 10 - The DNA-identified remains of United States Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie arrive home to his family in St. Louis, Missouri after being in the Tomb of the Unknowns since 1984
- July 10 - Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos
- July 12 - France defeats Brazil 3-0 to win the Football World Cup 1998
- July 17 - In St. Petersburg, Nicholas II of Russia and his family are buried in St. Catherine Chapel 80 years after he and his family were killed by Bolsheviks
- July 17 - A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 1,500, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless
- July 17 - Biologists report in the journal Science how they sequenced the genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum
- July 24 - Russel Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial
- July 25 - The United States Navy commissions the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and puts her into service
- July 25 - Wakayama Arsenic poison case - 63 poisoned and 4 dead by arsenic in a festival in the town in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan - Masumi Hayashi is arrested for murder
- July 28 - Monica Lewinsky scandal: Ex-White House intern, Monica Lewinsky receives transactional immunity in exchange for her grand jury testimony concerning her relationship with US President Bill Clinton.
- July 31 - UK import ban on landmines
August
landmines
- August 7 - Yangtze River Floods: In China the Yangtze River breaks through the main bank, before this from August 1-5 periphery levees collapsed consecutively in Jiayu County Baizhou Bay. The death toll was more than 12,000 injuring many thousands more.
- August 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq officially suspends all cooperation with UNSCOM teams
- August 7 - 1998 U.S. embassy bombings: Bombing of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya kills 224 people and injures over 4,500. The bombings were linked to Osama Bin Laden.
- August 15 - The Real IRA detonate a car bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, killing 29 and injuring over 200 - the greatest loss of life in a single incident of The Troubles.
- August 16 - Silk-Miller police murders: Australian police officers murdered in Moorabbin, Victoria.
- August 17
- Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about his relationship
- Russian financial crisis: Devaluation of the rouble. The ruble lost 70% of its value against US dollar in 6 months following August 1998. Several largest Russians banks collapsed, and millions of people lost their savings.
- August 20 - The Supreme Court of Canada states Quebec can not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval
- August 20 - 1998 U.S. embassy bombings: The United States military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack
- August 26 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Scott Ritter resigns from UNSCOM, sharply criticized the Clinton administration and the U.N. Security Council for not being vigorous enough about insisting that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction be destroyed. Ritter told reporters that "Iraq is not disarming," "Iraq retains the capability to launch a chemical strike."
- August 31 - North Korea reportedly launches Kwangmyongsong, their first satellite. Although North Korea reports that it reached stable orbit, NORAD was never able to confirm this assertion
September
- September 2 - In Canada, pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history
- September 2 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner carrying Swissair flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia after taking off from New York City en-route to Geneva. All 229 people on board are killed
- September 2 - A United Nations court finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide, marking the first time that the 1948 law banning genocide is enforced
- September 3 - In Somalia, the southern port of Kismayo is declared the capital of independent Jubaland under Muhamed Said Hersi
- September 7 - Google Inc. is founded.
- September 8 - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire breaks baseball's single season homerun record, formerly held by Roger Maris. McGwire hits #62 at Busch Stadium in the fourth inning off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel.
- September 9 - The United Nations General Assembly elects Didier Opertiri of Uruguay as president for its 53rd session
- September 14 - GSPC formed in Algeria, splitting off from the GIA over its policy of massacring civilians.
- September 15 - Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
- September 25 - 28 September -- Major creditors of Long-Term Capital Management, a Greenwich, Connecticut based hedge fund, after days of tough bargaining and some informal mediation by officials of the Federal Reserve agree on terms of a re-capitalization -- i.e. they create a consortium that takes over the fund's failing portfolio.
- September 26 - The Adelaide Crows do what the critics said was impossible, win their 2nd AFL (Australian Football League) Premiership to make it Back2Back.
- September 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.S. Congress passes the "Iraq Liberation Act", which states that the United States wants to remove Saddam Hussein from power and replace the government with a democratic institution.
October
- October 3 — In Australia, John Howard's coalition government was re-elected for a second term.
- October 4 - Leafie Mason is murdered in her Hughes Springs, Texas house by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She was his second victim in his second incident.
- October 6 - Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student, is found tied to a fence, the victim of a gay-bashing. He dies on Monday, October 12, becoming a symbol of victims of gay-bashing and sparking public reflection on homophobia.
- October 7 - Oslo Fornebu Airport closes.
- October 7 - United States Congress passes, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which gives copyright holders 20 more years of copyright privilege on work which they control the copyright. This effectively freezes the public domain to works created before 1923 in the United States.
- October 8 - Oslo Airport (Gardermoen) opens.
- October 8 - Japan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration A New Japan-Republic of Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century.
- October 12 - U.S. Congress passes Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- October 14 - Eric Robert Rudolph is charged with 6 bombings including the 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta, Georgia
- October 16 - British police place General Augusto Pinochet into house arrest during his medical treatment in Britain
- October 23 - Swatch Internet Time introduced
- October 28 - An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan. After landing the plane safely, Yuan Bin was arrested.
- October 29 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities
- October 29 - Space Shuttle Discovery blasts-off with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. He became the first American to orbit Earth on Tuesday, February 20, 1962.
- October 29 - While en route from Adana to Ankara, a Turkish Airlines flight with a crew of 6 and 33 passengers is hijacked by a Kurdish militant who orders the pilot to fly to Switzerland. The plane instead lands in Ankara after the pilot tricked the hijacking into thinking that he was landing in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to refuel
- October 29 - In Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Melissa Drexler pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter for killing her baby moments after delivering him in the bathroom at her senior prom, and is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment
- October 29 - In Göteborg, Sweden two arsonists burn down a disco of a local Macedonian Society - 63 dead, over 200 injured, most of them children of refugees
- October 31 - Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
November
- November 1 - The European Court of Human Rights is instituted.
- November 3 - Former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura is elected Governor of Minnesota.
- November 5 - Lewinsky scandal: As part of the impeachment inquiry, House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde sends a list of 81 questions to US President Bill Clinton
- November 5 - The journal Nature publishes a genetic study showing compelling evidence that Thomas Jefferson fathered his slave Sally Hemings' son Eston Hemings Jefferson
- November 7 - John Glenn returned to Earth aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
- November 9 - In the largest civil settlement in United States history, a federal judge approves a US$1.03 billion settlement requiring dozens of brokerage houses (including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Salomon Smith Barney) to pay investors who claim they were cheated in a wide-spread price-fixing scheme on the NASDAQ
- November 12 - Daimler-Benz completes a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler.
- November 13-14 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq. Clinton then calls it off at the last minute when Iraq promises once again to "unconditionally" cooperate with UNSCOM
- November 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspectors return to Iraq.
- November 19 - Lewinsky scandal: The United State House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against US President Bill Clinton.
- November 20 - A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
- November 20 - Galina Starovoitova, Russian legislator and democracy advocate, is assassinated in St Petersburg, Russia
- November 23-26 - Iraq disarmament crisis: According to UNSCOM, Iraq once again ends cooperation with the U.N. inspectors, alternately intimidating and withholding information from them
- November 24 - America Online announces it will acquire Netscape Communications in a stock-for-stock transaction worth US$4.2 billion.
- November 26 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament
- November 26 - Japan-China Joint Declaration On Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development
- November 30 - Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.
The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for four-year terms. Of these, 180 are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by proportional representation, and 300 are elected from single-member constituencies. The House of Representatives is the more powerful of the two houses able to override vetoes on bills imposed by the house of councillors with two-thirds majority. It can be dissolved by the Prime Minister at will, as it was by Junichiro Koizumi on August 8, 2005, due to a divide within his Liberal Democratic Party.
Right to vote and candidature
- Japanese nationals aged 20 years and older may vote.
- Japanese nationals aged 25 years and older may run for office in the lower house.
Term
The full term of a member of the House of Representatives is 4 years. Because snap elections are usually called before this date, however, members tend to sit for only two to three years at a time.
Differences between the Upper and Lower House
The House of Representatives has several powers not given to the House of Councillors. If a bill is passed by the lower house, the House of Representatives, but is voted down by the upper house, the House of Councillors, the House of Representatives can override the decision of the other chamber by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. In the case of treaties, the budget, and the selection of the prime minister, however, the House of Councillors can only delay passage, but not block the legislation. As a result, the House of Representatives is considered the more powerful house.
Members of the House of Representatives, who are elected to a maximum of four years, sit for a shorter term than members of the House of Councillors, who are elected to full six-year terms. The lower house can also be dissolved by the Prime Minister or the passage of a nonconfidence motion, while the House of Councillors cannot be dissolved. Thus the House of Representatives is considered to be more sensitive to public opinion, and is termed the "lower house." This term is also a legacy of the 1889 Meiji Constitution, when the House of Peers functioned as an aristocratic upper house in a format similar to the Westminster system of the time.
External links
- [http://www.shugiin.go.jp/index.nsf/html/index_e.htm Shugi-in.go.jp] - Official site of the House of Representatives
Category:Government of Japan
Japan
Japan
ja:衆議院
Democratic Party of Japan
| Democratic Party of Japan |
| Democratic Party Logo |
| Party President: | Maehara Seiji |
| Secretary General: | Hatoyama yukio |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Headquarters: |
1-11-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-0014
Japan
| | Representatives: | 113 |
| Councillors: | 83 |
| Political ideology: | liberal |
| Website: | [http://www.dpj.or.jp/ Democratic Party of Japan] |
The Democratic Party of Japan (民主党, Minshutō) is a liberal party in Japan. It is Japan's second largest party and main opposition party. It grew from a small party to a major force in post-war Japan.
History
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was formed on April 27, 1998. It was an merger of four previously independent parties that were opposed to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) (LDP)—a previous Democratic Party of Japan, the Good Governance Party (民政党, Minseito), the New Fraternity Party (新党友愛, Shinto-Yuai), and the Democratic Reform Party (民主改革連合, Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengo). These were all new parties that were either liberal or social-democratic. The new party began with ninety-three members of the House of Representatives and thirty-eight members of the House of Councillors.
In 2001, the DPJ elected Japan's first foreign-born Diet member, Marutei Tsurunen (born Martti Turunen in Finland), showing its anti-traditionalism and liberalism. The party grew and won a significant number of seats in the 2000 and 2001 Diet elections.
On September 24, 2003, the party formally merged with the small, centre-right Liberal Party led by Ichiro Ozawa—the move was largely considered to be done in preparation for the election on November 9, 2003. This move immediately gave the DPJ eight more seats in the House of Councillors.
On October 22, 2003, in a speech delivered jointly by former Party President Naoto Kan and former Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa in Okayama, Kan stated: "The LDP should give up the reins of power to the DPJ for once, creating a two-party system that will enable changes of government to take place."
In the elections themselves, the Democrats gained a total of 178 seats. This was short of their objectives, but nevertheless a significant demonstration of the new group's strength. The Democratic Party remains the primary rival of the ruling Liberal Democrats.
Following a pension scandal, Naoto Kan resigned, and was replaced with a moderate liberal—Katsuya Okada.
In the 2004 House of Councillors elections, the DPJ won a seat more than the ruling Liberal Democrats, but the LDP still maintained its firm majority in total votes. It sits with members of the Independent's Club, a coalition of Democrats who are liberal centrists, in both houses of the Diet.
In the 2005 parlamentary elections, the DPJ lost 62 of their seats in the House of Representatives.
Other information
The party's logo is two red circles overlapping.
The DPJ gains much of its support from blue-collar workers and also from the liberal middle class. It is also gaining support from women and from the urban classes.
On domestic policy, the party is liberal, and is the largest opposition party and also Japan's largest centrist party.
The DPJ also counts several members of non-Japanese ancestry, including Marutei Tsurunen (the first European member of the Diet) and Ren Hou (half-Taiwanese).
Factions
The Democrats do have some factions, or groups, as they are more commonly called, but are not as factionalized as the LDP, which spends more of its time fighting internally rather than against opposition parties. The groups are, from the most influential to the least influential:
- Hatoyama Group: led by former Liberal Democrat Yukio Hatoyama, has about 60 lawmakers in the Diet. They lean closer to the center than the Kan Group.
- Isshin-kai: supporters of the former Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, though he is not a member of the faction. About 50 members.
- Kan Group: led by former Party President Naoto Kan. Is one of the more left leaning factions. About 30 members.
- Liberal Party Group: made up of former Liberal Party members. About 30 members, and is led by Ichiro Ozawa and Hirohisa Fujii.
- Japan Socialist Party Group: the most left-leaning faction, created by more moderate members of the former Japan Socialist Party who felt the Social Democratic Party was too radical. About 30 seats, led by Takahiro Yokomichi.
- Democratic Socialist Party: members of the former Democratic Socialist Party which merged with the DPJ early on. About 50 members, led by Takashi Yonezawa.
- Ryoun-kai: the second most conservative and right-leaning faction. Most of its members are from The Sakigake Party, who did not want to join the more ecologist Midori no Kaigi, the party Sakigake morphed into when it dissolved, which is now dissolved. About 20 seats. Led by Seiji Maehara and Yukio Edano.
- Conservative Group: the smallest and most conservative faction. Liberal Democrats who joined the DPJ sit with the Conservatives. Has only a few members.
The Independent's Club, a liberal centrist faction which sits with the Democratic Party in both chambers of the house, is not a separate political entity, yet part of the Democratic Party (not a faction or group) which calls itself the Independent's Club.
The largest and most influential faction is the Hatoyama Faction. Party President Katsuya Okada sits with no faction, yet he supports the Kan Group.
President of DPJ
- Naoto Kan Apr 1998 - Sep 1999
- Yukio Hatoyama Sep 1999 - Dec 2002
- Naoto Kan Dec 2002 - May 2004
- Katsuya Okada May 2004 - Sep 2005
- Seiji Maehara Sep 2005 -
See also
- List of political parties in Japan
- Timeline of liberal parties in Japan
- Politics of Japan
- Liberal parties
- Japanese Communist Party
- Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)
- Social Democratic Party (Japan)
- Good Governance Party
- Democratic Party of Japan (1996)
- Democratic Reform Party
- New Fraternity Party
- Liberalism
- Socialism
- Katsuya Okada
- Ichiro Ozawa
External links
- [http://www.dpj.or.jp Democratic Party of Japan]
The official website of the Democratic Party. Has a very organized English section, and also a fast and reliable e-mail address on both the Japanese and English pages.
Category:Liberal parties
Category:Political parties in Japan
ja:民主党 (1996-)
Good Governance PartyThe Good Governance Party(民政党 Minseitō) was a Japanese political party which was in existence for a short period in 1998. It was a centrist, reformist party that merged with other parties in April 1998 to form the Democratic Party of Japan.
There was an earlier Minseito party.
History
The Good Governance Party was composed of several smaller reformist groups that had emerged during the collapse of the large coalition New Frontier Party in 1996.
These groups were:
The Sun Party (太陽党 Taiyōtō) led by Tsutomu Hata,
the Voice of the People (Japan) (国民の声 Kokumin no Koe) led by Michihiko Kano
and the group of independents known as From Five (フロムファイブ Furomu Faibu), led by Morihiro Hosokawa.
Shortly after uniting in January 1998, the Good Governance Party merged with the Democratic Party of Japan (1996)(民主党 Minshutō), the New Fraternity Party(新党友愛 Shintō-Yuai), and the Democratic Reform Party(民主改革連合 Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengō) to form the Democratic Party of Japan. Hata, Kano and Hosokawa all played important roles in the development of the DPJ as the largest opposition party in Japan
Category: Political parties in Japan
ja:民政党
Democratic Party of Japan
| Democratic Party of Japan |
| Democratic Party Logo |
| Party President: | Maehara Seiji |
| Secretary General: | Hatoyama yukio |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Headquarters: |
1-11-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-0014
Japan
| | Representatives: | 113 |
| Councillors: | 83 |
| Political ideology: | liberal |
| Website: | [http://www.dpj.or.jp/ Democratic Party of Japan] |
The Democratic Party of Japan (民主党, Minshutō) is a liberal party in Japan. It is Japan's second largest party and main opposition party. It grew from a small party to a major force in post-war Japan.
History
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was formed on April 27, 1998. It was an merger of four previously independent parties that were opposed to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) (LDP)—a previous Democratic Party of Japan, the Good Governance Party (民政党, Minseito), the New Fraternity Party (新党友愛, Shinto-Yuai), and the Democratic Reform Party (民主改革連合, Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengo). These were all new parties that were either liberal or social-democratic. The new party began with ninety-three members of the House of Representatives and thirty-eight members of the House of Councillors.
In 2001, the DPJ elected Japan's first foreign-born Diet member, Marutei Tsurunen (born Martti Turunen in Finland), showing its anti-traditionalism and liberalism. The party grew and won a significant number of seats in the 2000 and 2001 Diet elections.
On September 24, 2003, the party formally merged with the small, centre-right Liberal Party led by Ichiro Ozawa—the move was largely considered to be done in preparation for the election on November 9, 2003. This move immediately gave the DPJ eight more seats in the House of Councillors.
On October 22, 2003, in a speech delivered jointly by former Party President Naoto Kan and former Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa in Okayama, Kan stated: "The LDP should give up the reins of power to the DPJ for once, creating a two-party system that will enable changes of government to take place."
In the elections themselves, the Democrats gained a total of 178 seats. This was short of their objectives, but nevertheless a significant demonstration of the new group's strength. The Democratic Party remains the primary rival of the ruling Liberal Democrats.
Following a pension scandal, Naoto Kan resigned, and was replaced with a moderate liberal—Katsuya Okada.
In the 2004 House of Councillors elections, the DPJ won a seat more than the ruling Liberal Democrats, but the LDP still maintained its firm majority in total votes. It sits with members of the Independent's Club, a coalition of Democrats who are liberal centrists, in both houses of the Diet.
In the 2005 parlamentary elections, the DPJ lost 62 of their seats in the House of Representatives.
Other information
The party's logo is two red circles overlapping.
The DPJ gains much of its support from blue-collar workers and also from the liberal middle class. It is also gaining support from women and from the urban classes.
On domestic policy, the party is liberal, and is the largest opposition party and also Japan's largest centrist party.
The DPJ also counts several members of non-Japanese ancestry, including Marutei Tsurunen (the first European member of the Diet) and Ren Hou (half-Taiwanese).
Factions
The Democrats do have some factions, or groups, as they are more commonly called, but are not as factionalized as the LDP, which spends more of its time fighting internally rather than against opposition parties. The groups are, from the most influential to the least influential:
- Hatoyama Group: led by former Liberal Democrat Yukio Hatoyama, has about 60 lawmakers in the Diet. They lean closer to the center than the Kan Group.
- Isshin-kai: supporters of the former Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, though he is not a member of the faction. About 50 members.
- Kan Group: led by former Party President Naoto Kan. Is one of the more left leaning factions. About 30 members.
- Liberal Party Group: made up of former Liberal Party members. About 30 members, and is led by Ichiro Ozawa and Hirohisa Fujii.
- Japan Socialist Party Group: the most left-leaning faction, created by more moderate members of the former Japan Socialist Party who felt the Social Democratic Party was too radical. About 30 seats, led by Takahiro Yokomichi.
- Democratic Socialist Party: members of the former Democratic Socialist Party which merged with the DPJ early on. About 50 members, led by Takashi Yonezawa.
- Ryoun-kai: the second most conservative and right-leaning faction. Most of its members are from The Sakigake Party, who did not want to join the more ecologist Midori no Kaigi, the party Sakigake morphed into when it dissolved, which is now dissolved. About 20 seats. Led by Seiji Maehara and Yukio Edano.
- Conservative Group: the smallest and most conservative faction. Liberal Democrats who joined the DPJ sit with the Conservatives. Has only a few members.
The Independent's Club, a liberal centrist faction which sits with the Democratic Party in both chambers of the house, is not a separate political entity, yet part of the Democratic Party (not a faction or group) which calls itself the Independent's Club.
The largest and most influential faction is the Hatoyama Faction. Party President Katsuya Okada sits with no faction, yet he supports the Kan Group.
President of DPJ
- Naoto Kan Apr 1998 - Sep 1999
- Yukio Hatoyama Sep 1999 - Dec 2002
- Naoto Kan Dec 2002 - May 2004
- Katsuya Okada May 2004 - Sep 2005
- Seiji Maehara Sep 2005 -
See also
- List of political parties in Japan
- Timeline of liberal parties in Japan
- Politics of Japan
- Liberal parties
- Japanese Communist Party
- Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)
- Social Democratic Party (Japan)
- Good Governance Party
- Democratic Party of Japan (1996)
- Democratic Reform Party
- New Fraternity Party
- Liberalism
- Socialism
- Katsuya Okada
- Ichiro Ozawa
External links
- [http://www.dpj.or.jp Democratic Party of Japan]
The official website of the Democratic Party. Has a very organized English section, and also a fast and reliable e-mail address on both the Japanese and English pages.
Category:Liberal parties
Category:Political parties in Japan
ja:民主党 (1996-)
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