Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)


Democratic Party was a centrist political party in Japan. It was founded in spring 1947 by merging the Progressive Party of Inukai Takeru with a faction of Liberal Party led by Hitoshi Ashida and obtained 124 seats in 1947 elections. The party had held seven seats in Tetsu Katayama's government in 1947-1948. For some months in 1948, party's leader Ashida was Prime minister.
In March 1948, part of DP members led by Kijūrō Shidehara joined the Liberal Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party. In 1949 elections, the DP got 69 seats. The party was finally merged with the National Cooperative Party to form the National Democratic Party in April 1950.