Liberal Party (自由党 Jiyuto) is the name of five different political parties in different time periods in Japan.
They are:
- Liberal Party of Japan (1881), founded by Itagaki Taisuke in October 1881. The party stood for popular rights and espoused the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The main objective of the party in the beginning was the establishment of a constitution. The party was an offspring of the aikokusha.
- Liberal Party, founded in 1890, which became the Liberal Constitution Party later that year
- Liberal Party, formed from the LCP in 1891, merged with the Shinpoto into the Kenseito in 1898
- Liberal Party, founded by Hatoyama Ichiro in 1945. In 1946, Yoshida Shigeru formed the first Liberal cabinet after Hatoyama purged. From 1948 to 1950, the Liberal Party merged with a part of the Japan Democratic Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party. Then, in 1955, it merged with the Democratic Party again to form the Liberal Democratic Party.
- Liberal Party (1998), founded in 1998 from the remnants of the Shinshinto. It merged with the Democratic Party of Japan in 2003.
