Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The Liberal Democratic Party (Japanese:自由民主党 Jiyū-Minshutō; or just Jiminto) is one of the main political parties in Japan. It has ruled Japan for most of the time since World War II. The party is conservative.^[14][15][16]

Liberal Democratic Party 自由民主党 Jiyū-Minshutō
Abbreviation	LDP Lib Dems[1] Jimintō
President	Sanae Takaichi
Vice President	Tarō Asō
Secretary-General	Shun'ichi Suzuki
Founders	Ichirō Hatoyama Taketora Ogata
Founded	15 November 1955 (69 years, 334 days)
Merger of	Liberal Party Japan Democratic Party
Headquarters	11–23, Nagatachō 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo 100-8910, Japan
Newspaper	Jiyu Minshu [ja][2]
Student wing	LDP Students Division[3]
Youth wing	LDP Youth [ja]
Membership	1,028,662 (2024 est.)
Ideology	Conservatism (Japanese) Japanese nationalism
Political position	Right-wingA[›][4]
National affiliation	LDP–Komeito coalition
International affiliation	International Democrat Union (formerly)
Colours	Red (since 2017)[5]   Green (before 2017)[a]
Slogan	日本を守る。成長を力に。 Nihon o mamoru. Seichō o chikara ni. ('Protect Japan. Turn growth into strength.')[6]
Anthem	"われら" Ware-ra ('We')[7]
Councillors	101 / 248
Representatives	195 / 465
Prefectures[8]	1,301 / 2,644
Municipalities[8]	2,137 / 29,135
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
Japanese www.jimin.jp English www.jimin.jp/english/
^ A: The Liberal Democratic Party is a big-tent conservative party (see factions table below).[9] The LDP has also been described as centre-right,[10] but the LDP has far-right[11][12] and ultraconservative[13] factions, including members belonging to the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi.

Since 2025, the current leader is Sanae Takaichi, the first female president of the LDP.^[17] Former Prime Minister Tarō Asō has been the party's vice president since 2025. Former Finance Minister Shun'ichi Suzuki has been the party's secretary-general since 2025.

The party wants a close relationship with the United States, and wants fast export-based economic growth. They also want to undergo more privatization. The party is social conservative,^[18] and is against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Jiminto is also a Japanese nationalist political party.^[19]

In 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party had around 800,000 members.^[20]

Notes

1. Still used on the English website