| Rikken Dōshikai 立憲同志会 |
|
|---|---|
| Leader | Katsura Tarō Katō Takaaki |
| Founded | December 23, 1913 |
| Dissolved | October 10, 1916 |
| Succeeded by | Kenseikai |
| Headquarters | Tokyo |
| Politics of Japan Political parties Elections |
|
The Rikken Dōshikai (立憲同志会 Constitutional Association of Friends ) was a political party active in the Empire of Japan in the early years of the 20th century. It was also known as simply the Dōshikai.
Founded by Prime Minister Katsura Tarō on February 7, 1913,[1] the Rikken Dōshikai largely served to support his cabinet against criticism by the Rikken Seiyūkai party led by Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio, which held a majority of the seats in the Lower House of the Diet of Japan at the time. Katsura was able to convince 90 Diet members (including all 30 members of the Chuo Kurabu and half of the Rikken Kokumintō) to join his new party. [2]
The party survived Katsura's death in 1913, and under the leadership of Katō Takaaki placed five of its members in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu in 1914-1916. It became the majority party in the Diet after the 1915 General Election, with a 153 seats.
After the dissolution of the Ōkuma government, the Dōshikai merged with Chūseikai and other small political parties to form the Kenseikai in October 1916.[3]