Nippon Ishin no Kai

The Japan Innovation Party (日本維新の会, Nippon Ishin no Kai)[lower-alpha 1] is a Japanese political party. Formed as Initiatives from Osaka in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in the National Diet following the July 2016 House of Councillors election.

For the related regional party, see Osaka Restoration Association. For the previous party to have the same name in Japanese, see Japan Restoration Party.

Japan Innovation Party 日本維新の会
President	Ichirō Matsui[1] Toranosuke Katayama
Secretary-General	Nobuyuki Baba
Founded	2 November 2015 (2015-11-02)
Split from	Japan Innovation Party
Headquarters	Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Newspaper	Nippon Ishin[2]
Ideology	Conservatism[3][4] Economic liberalism[5] Federalism (Dōshūsei) Decentralization[4] Limited government[6] Right-wing populism[6] Free education[7]
Political position	Centre-right[8] to right-wing[9]
Colours	Green[10]
Councillors	16 / 245
Representatives	11 / 465
Website
o-ishin.jp
Politics of Japan Political parties Elections

History

The party was formed in October 2015 under the name Initiatives from Osaka (おおさか維新の会, Ōsaka Ishin no Kai) by Osaka governor Ichirō Matsui and then-Osaka mayor Tōru Hashimoto after they and their supporters left the Japan Innovation Party.[1][11] The Japanese name was the same as the Osaka Restoration Association, which was also formed by Hashimoto, but was differentiated by writing "Osaka" in hiragana (おおさか) rather than in kanji (大阪).[1]

The first major election contested by the party was the July 2016 House of Councillors election. The party performed well in the Kansai region, winning two of four seats in the Osaka at-large district and one of three seats in the Hyogo at-large district.[12][13] In the national PR block the party finished fifth with 5,153,584 votes (9.2%), which meant it won 4 of the 48 seats. The majority of its votes were again centred around Osaka; the party received the most votes in Osaka Prefecture (1,293,626; 34.9%)[14] and was second behind the Liberal Democratic Party in Hyogo Prefecture (470,526; 19.5%).[15] The gain in seats made the party the third-biggest opposition in the National Diet.[16] However, after the election Matsui said the poor showing outside of Kansai was unacceptable for a national party, and that the party would adopt a new name that did not include the word "Osaka" in an attempt to broaden its nationwide appeal.[17] At a meeting on 23 August 2016 the party voted to change its name to Nippon Ishin no Kai (日本維新の会) but did not announce an official English name.[16]

Presidents

No.	Name	Term of office
		Took Office	Left Office
Split from: Innovation Party (centre-right)
1	Tōru Hashimoto	2 November 2015	12 December 2015
2	Ichirō Matsui	12 December 2015	23 August 2016
3	Co-leadership Ichirō Matsui   Toranosuke Katayama	23 August 2016	Incumbent

References

1. Stated as Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) on its website's copyright notice

1. "Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's new party debuts". Japan Times. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
2. Nippon Ishin no Kai (8 September 2016). 機関紙 日本維新 Vol.05 - 松井一郎 (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 July 2019.
3. "Future of constitutional revision debate hangs in balance in Japan upper house poll". Mainichi Shimbun. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020. Prime Minister Abe is approaching conservative opposition Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and even the Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) to win their support for constitutional revisions.
4. Yano, Takeshi. "Nippon Ishin no Kai towa" 日本維新の会（2016―）(にっぽんいしんのかい)とは. kotobank.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved May 29, 2020.
5. "In bid to go national, Osaka Ishin no Kai changes its name". The Japan Times. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
6. "Political factors and limitations that made the Abe administration the longest ever" (in Japanese). Newsweek Japan. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020. 一方で、日本維新の会は小さな政府論に右派的なポピュリズムを加えた政党ですが ...(On the other hand, the Japan Innovation Party is a political party that has added right-wing populism to its small government theory ...)
7. "【参院選】党首に聞く 日本維新の会・松井一郎代表「憲法改正で教育無償化」" [[House of Councillors election] Ichiro Matsui, Leader of the Japan Innovation Party: "Free education through constitutional amendment"]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
8. Gregory W. Noble (13 July 2019). "Abe sails toward another electoral victory". East Asia Forum. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
9. 維新は「自民より右」？　アンチ東京が生んだ強さ [The Ishin Is 'Right-wing Over the LDP'? The Strength of Anti-Tokyo.]. AERA dot (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
10. 日本に定着するか、政党のカラー [Will the colors of political parties settle in Japan?] (in Japanese). Nikkei, Inc. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
11. "Abe meets ex-Osaka Mayor Hashimoto on heels of resignation". Nikkei Asian Review. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
12. 開票結果・速報(選挙区・大阪府)【参議院選挙2016】 [Results (Osaka District) [House of Councillors Election 2016]]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
13. 開票結果・速報(選挙区・兵庫県)【参議院選挙2016】 [Results (Hyogo District) [House of Councillors Election 2016]]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
14. 比例代表選出議員選挙　政党等別得票数（大阪府計） [National Block Election - Votes by Party (Osaka Prefecture Total)] (in Japanese). Osaka Prefecture Electoral Commission. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
15. 参議院比例代表選出議員選挙　開票結果（総括表） [House of Councillors National Block Election Results (Compilation Table)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Hyogo Prefecture Electoral Commission. 11 July 2016. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
16. Johnston, Eric (23 August 2016). "In bid to go national, Osaka Ishin no Kai changes its name". Japan Times. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
17. "Osaka Ishin to drop 'Osaka' from name in bid to boost appeal, taps Watanabe as deputy". Japan Times. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.

External links

• Nippon Ishin no Kai (in Japanese)