Your Party (Japan)

Your Party
みんなの党
Minna no Tō
FounderYoshimi Watanabe
FoundedAugust 8, 2009 (2009-08-08)
DissolvedNovember 28, 2014 (2014-11-28)
Split from
IdeologyConservatism
Neoliberalism
Political positionCentre-right
Colors
  •   Red (official)
  •   Hot pink (customary)
Website
www.your-party.jp
A campaign truck announcing policy outside Kashiwa Station in Chiba.

Your Party (みんなの党, Minna no Tō; lit. 'Everyone's Party') was a political party in Japan led by Yoshimi Watanabe from 2009 until its dissolution in 2014.[1] The party was founded after Watanabe split from the Liberal Democratic Party, with the aim of making the government more democratic and reducing bureaucratic control of policymaking. Your Party was generally described as centre-right,[2] conservative, and neoliberal, advocating lower taxation, free trade, smaller government, and reduced regulation. The party won seats in both houses of the National Diet following the 2009 and 2010 elections and expanded its representation in 2012 before dissolving in November 2014 amid falling support and internal disagreement over the upcoming general election.


History

Led by Yoshimi Watanabe, who split from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the party was founded on August 8, 2009 after then-Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved the lower house. One concept behind the party was to make the government more democratic, and to eliminate control of the government by non-elected members established in the bureaucracy. In this respect, Watanabe has repeatedly stated that his position is compatible with the Democratic Party of Japan.

Your Party advocated lower taxation, free enterprise, smaller government, and less regulation.

The party fielded 13 candidates in the August 2009 general elections.[3] Five of those candidates were elected to the lower house. In the 2010 house of Councillors election, it gained 10 seats.[4] It also made gains at the 2011 regional elections, and in the 2012 general election, where it increased its seats from eight in the lower house to eighteen.

Following an announcement by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe for an election to be held in December 2014, the party's 20 members voted on November 19, 2014 to disband on November 28, 2014. Falling support and disagreement over whether to side with the ruling coalition in the upcoming election were identified as reasons for the split.[5]

Ideology and policies

The Your party has been described as centre-right,[2] conservative,[6] neoliberal,[7][8] and economically liberal.[9] The party's policies focused on fiscal reforms such as tax cuts, free trade, budget cuts, anti-deflation measures, financial liberalisation, and increased government involvement in the Bank of Japan's policy-making.[2][8] The party also supported administrative reforms aimed at smaller government and transferring power from central ministries to local governments.[2]

Presidents of YP

No. Name Image Term of office
Took office Left office
1 Yoshimi Watanabe September 2009 April 2014
2 Keiichiro Asao April 2014 28 November 2014

Election results

House of Representatives

Election Leader Constituency Party list Total Position Status
Votes % Seats +/- Votes % Seats +/- Seats +/-
2009 Yoshimi Watanabe 615,244 0.87
2 / 300
 New 3,005,199 4.27
3 / 180
 new
5 / 480
 new 6th Opposition
2012 2,807,244 4.71
4 / 300
 Increase 2 5,245,586 8.77
14 / 180
 Increase 9
18 / 480
 Increase 13 5th Opposition

House of Councillors

Election Leader Constituency Party list Seats Position Status
Votes % Seats +/- Votes % Seats +/- Election +/- Total +/-
2010 Yoshimi Watanabe 5,977,391 10.24
3 / 73
 new 7,943,649 13.59
7 / 48
 new
10 / 121
 new
11 / 242
 Increase 10 3rd Opposition
2013 4,159,961 7.84
4 / 73
 Increase 1 4,755,160 8.93
4 / 48
 Decrease 3
8 / 121
 Decrease 2
18 / 242
 Increase 8 6th Opposition

References

  1. ↑ Pletcher, Kenneth. "Your Party, political party, Japan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Pletcher, Kenneth. "Your Party, political party, Japan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Ex-minister Watanabe starts new political party". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. August 9, 2009. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  4. ↑ Ruling bloc loses Upper House majority July 12, 2010 Japan Times Retrieved June 1, 2016
  5. ↑ Aoki, Mizuho; Yoshida, Reiji (November 19, 2014). "Abe's snap election claims first victim as Your Party disbands". The Japan Times. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  6. ↑ Pekkanen, Robert J.; Pekkanen, Saadia (2018). "Japan in 2014: All about Abe". In Pekkanen, Robert (ed.). Critical Readings on the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. Vol. 4. Brill. p. 1638. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  7. ↑ Rydgren, Jens (2018). The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right. Oxford University Press. p. 687. ISBN 978-0190274559. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  8. 1 2 Schoppa, Leonard (December 18, 2012). "A Vote against the DPJ, Not in Favor of the LDP" (pdf). Japan Chair Platform. Center for Strategic and International Studies: 2. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  9. ↑ Hrebenar, Ronald J.; Nakamura, Akira (2014). Party Politics in Japan: Political Chaos and Stalemate in the 21st Century. Taylor & Francis. p. 177. ISBN 9781317745969. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
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