Rikken Seiyūkai
입헌정우회
A political party of the Empire of Japan founded in September 1900 with Itō Hirobumi as its first president. It sought to establish party cabinet government, and its presidents Saionji Kinmochi, Hara Takashi, Takahashi Korekiyo, Tanaka Giichi and Inukai Tsuyoshi formed cabinets. From 1925 to 1931 it formed a two-party system with the Rikken Minseitō, but party cabinets ended after the May 15 Incident of 1932, and after splitting in 1939 the party dissolved in 1940.
In depth
After the Imperial Diet opened, the domain-clique governments could not pass budgets or laws without the support of the popular parties that held a majority in the House of Representatives, and the genrō Itō Hirobumi sought a transition to party cabinet government. On 15 September 1900 the Rikken Seiyūkai was founded with Itō as first president, with the support of the Kenseitō (the former Liberal Party line) and others, starting with 152 seats in the lower house, and in October it formed the fourth Itō cabinet. Its calling itself an "association" (kai) rather than a "party" reflected Itō's view of parties as subordinate to the national interest.
When Itō moved to the presidency of the Privy Council in 1903, Saionji Kinmochi became party president, and for about ten years the Katsura Tarō clique and the Seiyūkai alternated in power by compromise (the Keien era). In this period the party was run collectively by Saionji, Hara Takashi and Matsuda Masahisa, expanded its strength through active policies such as railway nationalisation and the distribution of benefits, and won the backing of large zaibatsu such as Mitsui and Yasuda. After the Taishō political crisis of 1913 Hara became president, and the Hara cabinet formed amid the rice riots of 1918 is regarded as the first full party cabinet.
After Hara was assassinated in 1921 Takahashi Korekiyo succeeded him, but internal strife continued, and in 1924 a majority led by Tokonami Takejirō left to form the Seiyūhontō. The Seiyūkai joined the Second Movement to Protect Constitutional Government and became a governing party in the Katō Takaaki cabinet, and in 1925 it took army general Tanaka Giichi as president. The Tanaka cabinet formed in 1927 resigned in 1929 after mishandling the "certain grave incident in Manchuria", and Inukai Tsuyoshi became president. The Inukai cabinet was formed in December 1931, and in the general election of February 1932 the Seiyūkai won a record 301 seats.
After Inukai was assassinated by naval officers in the May 15 Incident of 1932, the genrō Saionji suspended the "normal course of constitutional government" and non-party cabinets followed. The Seiyūkai could not agree whether to cooperate with or oppose the cabinets, and in 1939 it split into the reformist (Nakajima), orthodox (Kuhara) and neutral factions. The party ceased to exist when the orthodox and unity factions dissolved on 16 July 1940 and the reformist faction on 30 July 1940.