Liberal Democratic Party
The Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党) (LDP) is the dominant political power of modern Japan.
It is generally categorized as center-right in terms of ideology, but effectively it is a factional big tent party.
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Formation
The LDP formed in 1955 as a merger between the Liberal Party (自由党) and the Japan Democratic Party (日本民主党).
LDP politicians made extensive use of koenkai (後援会) for campaign finance and voter mobilization. LDP leadership would attempt to subsume these organizations multiple times, but early attempts failed due to factionalism. Over time koenkai became vertically-integrated political machines, especially within the LDP.
Government
The Japan Socialist Party served as the opposition throughout.
First Loss of Power
In the August 1993 general election, in the context of the stagflating economy and the Recruit scandal, the LDP lost enough seats for a grand coalition government to form. Morihiro Hosokawa (細川 護煕) led this government for 8 months, following which Tsutomu Hata (羽田 孜) led for 2 months.
The government fell in June when the LDP, JSP, and New Party Sakigake joined to form a new coalition. Tomiichi Murayama served as prime minister for 2 years, then handed power back to the LDP under Ryutaro Hashimoto. The coalition then devolved into a confidence and supply agreement.
The remaining grand coalition members consolidated into the New Frontier Party and served as the opposition.
Trying to solve the issue of leading a minority government, Hashimoto called for the July 1998 House of Councilors elections. Instead the LDP lost seats and Hashimoto resigned.
First Return to Power
Keizou Obuchi formed a coalition government with the Liberal Party in January 1999. In October, Komeito joined as well.
Obuchi died 2 years into his term and Yoshirou Mori became prime minister. The Mori government was marred by scandals, innumerable gaffes, and mass unpopularity. While narrowly surviving a leadership coup in November 2000, he was forced to resign in April 2001. Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka (野中 廣務), who was largely responsible for quashing the coup, as well as the coup leaders, Koichi Kato (加藤 紘一) and Taku Yamasaki (山崎 拓), suffered reputational damage from the affair.
Koizumi Era
When the LDP lost power in 1994, a reformist faction called Shinseiki of the LDP formed. They rapidly gained influence during the Mori government. While Kato and Yamasaki gambled (and lost) on a leadership coup in 2000, the movement was well positioned for the April 2001 leadership contest. Junichiro Koizumi (小泉 純一郎) defeated former prime minister Hashimoto overwhelmingly. His initiatives were more popular among voters than among the LDP majority in the Diet.
In 2005, Koizumi began pushing for the privatization and breakup of Japan Post (日本郵政公社). While the threat of calling a snap election successfully whipped the House of Representatives, the House of Councilors saw a rebellion. Koizumi declared that the bill was a vote of confidence. 30 members of the LDP abstained, triggering the September 2005 general election.
The LDP won an outright majority, handing a two-thirds majority to the coalition government in the House of Representatives. Though it went unused, it opened the door for the LDP to push constitutional reforms. The Japan Post reforms passed in 2007.
Second Loss of Power
In September 2006, at the end of his party leadership term, Koizumi resigned as prime minister. He remained a member of the Diet until the 2009 general election, when his son Shinjiro won the seat.
Shinzo Abe (安倍 晋三) won the subsequent leadership contest. A member of the nationalist Japan Conference (日本会議), Abe shifted Japan's foreign policy towards confrontation of North Korea. He restructured the Defense Agency into the cabinet-level Ministry of Defense, the first military ministry since 1945.
Abe consistently feuded with news broadcasters and newpapers. He has been credibly accused of censoring NHK news reports. His conservative views on the succession crisis also alienated the general public. In the context of deteriorating health and losing the majority in the July 2007 House of Councilors election, he resigned in September 2007.