New Komeito

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New Komeito
公明党
Kōmeitō
President Natsuo Yamaguchi
Secretary-General Yoshihisa Inoue
Councillors leader Kazuyoshi Shirahama
Founded 7 November 1998
Merger of Kōmei
New Peace Party
Reform Club
Headquarters 17 Minamimoto-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0012
Ideology
Political position Centre[4]
Representatives
31 / 480
Councillors
20 / 242
Prefectural assembly members[5]
209 / 2,725
Municipal assembly members[5]
2,740 / 32,070
Website
www.komei.or.jp
Politics of Japan
Political parties
Elections

The New Komeito (公明党 Kōmeitō), New Kōmei Party, or NKP is a political party in Japan founded by members of the Nichiren Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai.[6] The leadership and financing of the two groups are currently self-proclaimed to be independent, however an official 2008 Soka Gakkai International (SGI) press release stated "official liaison meetings between New Komeito and the Soka Gakkai are held at least twice a year."[7][8] Also, the vast majority of party members are also members of Soka Gakkai and many Soka Gakkai members support NKP especially during election campaigns.[9]

The three kanji characters 公明党 have the approximate meanings of "public/government" (公 kō), "light/brightness" (明 mei), and "political party" (党 tō). The combination "kōmei" (公明) is usually taken to mean "justice or fairness". The word "New" is not a part of the Japanese name, but is used in English to distinguish the party from its predecessor. The NKP was formed as a result of a merger between the Kōmeitō and the New Peace Party on November 7, 1998.

After the 2012 general election the party held 31 seats in the lower house and 19 seats in the upper house.

Platform

NKP's declared mission is to pioneer "people-centered politics, a politics based on a humanitarianism that treats human life with the utmost respect and care".[10] Domestically, the party proposals include reduction of the central government and bureaucracy, increased transparency in public affairs, and increased local (prefectural) autonomy with the private sector playing an increased role. With regard to foreign policy, the NKP wishes to eliminate nuclear arms and armed conflict in general. In so doing, it hopes to bring about the "dawn of a new civilization of mankind". Although most of the NKP politicians and core supporters are Soka Gakkai members, NKP platform scarcely remarks on religious issues.

History

Predecessors

New Komeito's predecessor party Kōmeitō was formed in 1954. In 1957, the party was penalized in Osaka for bribing voters with money and tobacco. In 1968, fourteen of its members were convicted of forging absentee ballots in Shinjuku, and eight were sentenced to prison for electoral fraud. In the 1960s it was widely criticized for violating the separation of church and state, and in February 1970 all three major Japanese newspapers printed editorials demanding that the party reorganize. It eventually broke apart based on promises to segregate from Soka Gakkai.[11][12][13]

Kōmeitō joined the Hosokawa and Hata anti-LDP coalition cabinets in 1993 and 1994. After the collapse of the anti-LDP governments and the electoral and campaign finance reforms of 1994, the Kōmeitō split in December 1994: The "New Kōmei Party" (公明新党 Kōmei Shintō) joined the New Frontier Party (NFP) a few days later in an attempt to unify the splintered opposition.[14] The other group, Kōmei (公明), continued to exist as a separate party. After the dissolution of the NFP in December 1997, former Kōmeitō members from the NFP founded two new groups: the "New Peace Party" (新党平和 Shintō Heiwa) and the Reimei Club (黎明クラブ, "Dawn Club") in the House of Councillors, but some ex-Kōmeitō politicians such as Shōzō Azuma followed Ichirō Ozawa into the Liberal Party. The Reimei Club merged into the New Peace Party a few weeks later in January 1998. Finally, in November 1998, Kōmei and New Peace Party merged to re-establish Kōmeitō (referred to in English now as "New Komeito" – the party's name is just Kōmeitō as before the 1994 split).

Current party

The current conservative, more moderate, party was formed in 1998, in a merger of Kōmei and the New Peace Party. It supported the ruling LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), and did well in the 2000 and 2001 parliamentary elections. "The LDP-Liberal coalition expanded to include the New Komeito Party in October 1999."[15] New Komeito has been (and continues to be) a coalition partner in the Government of Japan since 1999 (excluding 2009-2011 when the Democratic Party of Japan was in power). As such, New Komeito supported a (temporary) change to Japan's "no-war constitution" in order for Japan to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[16]

In the 2003 and 2004 Diet elections, the NKP did well, thanks to an extremely committed and well organized voter base coming from Soka Gakkai. The party shares its support base with the LDP, made up of white collar bureaucrats and rural populations, but also gains support from religious leaders. However, on 27 July 2005, NKP's Secretary General said that his party would consider forming a coalition government with the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) if, in a snap election, the DPJ gained a majority in the House of Representatives. On 8 August 2005, then-Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the Lower House and called for a general election, due to the rejection of efforts to privatize Japan Post. The incumbent LDP-New Komeito coalition won a large majority in the 2005 general election.

Natsuo Yamaguchi became the party's leader on 8 September 2009 after the party suffered a major defeat in the Japanese general election, 2009 and became an opposition party. New Komeito lost ten seats, including that of party leader Akihiro Ota and general secretary Kazuo Kitagawa. On 8 September 2009, Yamaguchi replaced Ota as president of New Komeito.[17] On 16 December 2011, general elections swept the LDP/New Komeito coalition back into Government; former party chief Akihiro Ota (Ohta) is currently Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.[18]

Presidents of NKP

No. Name Term of office Image
Took office Left office
1 Takenori Kanzaki 7 November 1998 30 September 2006
2 Akihiro Ota 30 September 2006 8 September 2009
3 Natsuo Yamaguchi 8 September 2009 Incumbent

See also

Literature

  • Fisker-Nielsen, Anne Mette (2012), Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan: Soka Gakkai Youth and Komeito, Routledge 

References

  1. ↑ Metraux, Daniel A. (1996), "The Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation of a Harmonious and Peaceful Society", Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia (State University of New York Press): 386 
  2. ↑ Filus, Dorothea M. (2010), "Interreligious Education and Dialogue in Japan", International Handbook of Inter-religious Education, Part One (Springer): 788 
  3. ↑ Fisker-Nielsen, Anne Mette (2012), Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan: Soka Gakkai Youth and Komeito, Routledge, p. 32 
  4. ↑ Fisker-Nielsen, Anne Mette (2012), Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan: Soka Gakkai Youth and Komeito, Routledge, p. 86 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: Prefectural and local assembly members and governors/mayors by political party as of December 31, 2011
  6. ↑ Matsutani, Minoru, "Soka Gakkai keeps religious, political machine humming", The Japan Times, 2 December 2008, p. 3
  7. ↑ "About Us: On Politics and Religion". Komeito. Retrieved 2 September 2010. 
  8. ↑ Anderson, Joan (17 January 2008), "Soka Gakkai Representatives Outline Priorities to New Komeito", Office of Public Information of Soka Gakkai International 
  9. ↑ Okuyama, Michiaki (Spring 2010). "Soka Gakkai As A Challenge To Japanese Society And Politics". Politics and Religion Journal 4 (1). Retrieved 9 September 2012. 
  10. ↑ (New Komeito, 2002)
  11. ↑ Ikuo Kabashima, Gill Steel Changing Politics in Japan 2012 Page 38 "Fragmented Opposition: Other Parties Other smaller parties include Komeito (the party officially became known as New Komeito in 1998), a party that Soka Gakkai formed in 1964 from its precursor, the Komei Political League."
  12. ↑ John McCormick Comparative Politics in Transition 2011- Page 179 "Clean Government Party (CGP) (Komeito) New Komeito is the political wing of Soka Gakkai, Japan's largest lay Buddhist ..."
  13. ↑ Jeffrey Haynes Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics Page 17 "Talking to young Japanese people one normally gets very little sense of enthusiasm about Buddhism, and few people seem to take seriously the notion that the New Komeito Party is a Buddhist political party. The Komeito or 'Clean Government Party' ..."
  14. ↑ Tun-Jen Cheng, Deborah A. Brown Religious Organizations And Democratization: Case Studies 2006 Page 279 "The demise of the Shinshinto into a variety of new splinter parties, including a revived Komeito (now called "New Komeito"), and increasing public dissatisfaction with the LDP-created political chaos. This situation was compounded by the ..."
  15. ↑ Politics of Japan#Political Developments since 2000
  16. ↑ Daniel M. Kliman Japan's Security Strategy in the Post-9/11 World 2006 Page 79 "As the linchpin of the ruling coalition, New Komeito would have borne direct responsibility for the Japanese government's failure to visibly participate in the war on terror. Internalized gaiatsu therefore exercised greater influence over New Komeito lawmakers than their DPJ counterparts..."
  17. ↑ The Japan Times Ailing New Komeito taps policy chief as new boss 8 September 2009 Retrieved on 8 August 2012
  18. ↑ http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/96_abe/meibo/daijin/ohta_e.html

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