Nippon Ishin no Kai


The Japan Innovation Party 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.

History

The party was formed in October 2015 under the name Initiatives from Osaka by Osaka governor Ichirō Matsui and then-Osaka mayor Tōru Hashimoto after they and their supporters left the Japan Innovation Party. 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 rather than in kanji.
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. In the national PR block the party finished fifth with 5,153,584 votes, 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 and was second behind the Liberal Democratic Party in Hyogo Prefecture. The gain in seats made the party the third-biggest opposition in the National Diet. 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. At a meeting on 23 August 2016 the party voted to change its name to but did not announce an official English name.

Presidents