the head of his conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Ishiba, a 68-year-old moderate centrist
Are there any Japanese people who could explain the political parties and viewpoints? Because those words don’t make sense to me in the order they are in.
this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2025
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Liberal Democratic Party is the name of the party, they are conservative in Japanese politics.
'liberal' in general political discourse doesn't mean 'left-wing trending towards communist' as it is used in American communication, it is simply the historical opposing view to absolutism (e.g. Absolute monarchy). Liberal thought centers around individual freedoms; modern-day conservatives advocate for permissive individual freedoms by limiting government's role in as many facets of life as possible (in theory, real parties and platforms have little to do with their marketing). Modern-day liberals advocate for positively identfying and enforcing freedoms through law. Illiberal thought is common in the west, and advocates for limiting individual freedoms for one reason or another - Germany's prohibitions against Nazi speech, and the US's restrictions on recreational drugs are examples of illiberal policies.
“Liberal” doesn’t mean “left wing trending towards communist” in American politics either; the problem in America is that the actual Nazi fascist party has spent decades grooming the population to think that the right-of-center-capitalist party are the literal authoritarian-yet-anarcho-communists plants from Satanland aka anywhere but the safe, persecution-free United States
So even when we are like “we should be more progressive and fix things!” The farthest we can get is Liberalism.
Which, by the way, may Americans who call themselves liberals would find they’re far to the left of actual American liberalism as well but shhh that’s also gotta be a lie because America and Americans BAD
Democratic Socialism for the win
Liberal and liberty have the same root — libre — freedom. There’s nothing in the word itself that is inherent about individual freedoms versus collective freedoms. Balancing the responsibilities and liberties of the individual versus the group has been in tension for as long as society has existed. Japan in particular tends to prioritize group needs over individual. You just pulled most of that shit directly from your ass.
Now to answer the actual fucking question: Japanese culture tends to prioritize stability, seniority, and lineage — as such Japan is essentially a one party democracy — and history has settled on the LDP for that. If you actually want to be in government then you need to join the LDP. For the minor interludes where a non LDP party was able to build a governing coalition, it has generally been considered a mistake by the electorate.
While on the surface the LDP governs, the LDP itself is *highly * factional. When Japanese PMs resign they’re usually pressured from within the LDP and replaced from within the LDP itself. And though the LDP are usually the leading party, they often require a coalition with other right wing parties. Those parties effectively act as cadet LDP factions.
While in the US you have only two highly monolithic parties, in Japan you have one very fractured party, and bunch of right wing partners. The LDP is right of center, but in Japanese politics it’s about as left as government gets. The Japanese themselves value stability, conformity, and the collective good. Post WW2 the US was afraid of communism in Japan and did a lot to maintain a center right establishment. In the 1970s the far left did a lot delegitimize themselves.
Somebody buying up used VCRs again?