The , also translatable as "National Democratic Party," abbreviated to DPFP or DPP, is a political party in Japan, variously described as centrist, centre-right, conservative, and populist.
The first iteration of the party was formed on 7 May 2018 as a merger of the Democratic Party and Kibō no Tō (Party of Hope). In September 2020, some members of the party agreed to join the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan; however, other members, including party leader Yuichiro Tamaki, rejected the arrangement and instead formed a new party retaining the DPFP name and branding. The party saw electoral success in the 2024 Japanese general election, in which it won 28 seats in the House of Representatives, becoming the fourth-largest party in the chamber. Subsequently in the 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election, the party came in second in the national popular vote and won 17 seats, surpassing Komeito to become the fourth-largest party in the National Diet overall. After the 2026 general election, the DPFP became the largest opposition party in the Diet, including seats across both chambers.
The party advocates for the use of expansionary fiscal policy. Politically, the party has never joined an LDP-Komeito ruling coalition, instead claiming cooperation with other parties, regardless of governing status, when policy aligns. For example, the party tried to reach an agreement with the LDP and Komeito on the national budget in 2024, while also signing cooperation agreements with the CDP and RENGO on policies such as diplomacy, economy, and diversity.
History
First iteration On 28 September 2017, Democratic Party (DP) leader Seiji Maehara announced that the party had abandoned plans to contest the 2017 Japanese general election, with the party's sitting representatives contesting the election as candidates for the Kibō no Tō recently founded by Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, or as independents. On 23 October 2017, after the election, Maehara resigned as party president, with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) having replaced the DP as the largest opposition party in the House of Representatives, while the existing DP caucus continued to exist in the House of Councillors.
In January 2018, the DP and the Kibō no Tō agreed to form a joint parliamentary group in both houses of the Diet, although days later the negotiations broke down. On 9 April 2018, it was announced that talks were ongoing to merge the two parties into a new opposition force. On 24 April 2018, at a joint press conference the leadership of the DP and the Kibō no Tō announced that both parties had agreed to merge in May 2018 as the National Democratic Party. The DP and Kibō no Tō on 7 May 2018, 62 members of the predecessor parties joined the DPFP at its formation, adopting Democratic Party For the People as their official English language title. DP leader Kōhei Ōtsuka and Kibō leader Yūichirō Tamaki became the interim co-leaders of the new party. The 2018 Democratic Party for the People leadership election was held to choose a permanent leader. Interim co-leader Tamaki was elected as the permanent leader of the party. In April 2019, the Liberal Party merged into the Democratic Party For the People.
Second iteration In 2019, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan tried to absorb Democratic Party of People, but faced resistance from the party. Discussions resumed in year 2020, but due to split in opinion among members of the party at the time regarding whether to join CDPJ, it's announced on August 24 in the year both CDPJ and DPFP were dissolved and re-established as new CDPJ and DPFP, with only some of old DPFP members joining the new CDPJ. Difference in positions in policies have been cited as reason for why some members and supporting groups of DPFP did not join CDPJ at the time, including CDPJ's opposition of consumption tax cut, opposition to constitution amendment, push for zero nuclear, and that the CDPJ did not name itself as reformist-centrist.
As a result of this decision, the old DPFP dissolved on 11 September 2020 and the application for dissolution submitted to the government on 14 September 2020, and the new DPFP is subsequently established on 15 September 2020, retaining the DPFP name and branding. After the establishment of new DPFP, the new party decided not to join left-leaning opposition coalition which featured CDPJ, Japan Communist Party, Social Democratic Party, and Reiwa Shinsengumi, due to concern on the coalition's position regarding nuclear power, constitution reform, national security, and tax cut. Instead, the party cooperated with Japan Innovation Party for pushing constitutional reform and Tomin First no Kai in election.維新、国民民主が「是々非々」野党連携へ産経新聞 2021年11月6日参院選 国民 “都民ファーストの会と合流視野に連携協議”NHK 2022年1月14日
In November 2023, Maehara Seiji and some other parliament members of the party left the party following defeat in party leadership election, criticising the executives of Democratic Party For the People at the time being too closely aligned with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), such as via the DPFP cooperating with the LDP on legislation and the DPFP intention to support the LDP's supplementary budget for the fiscal year 2024.自民と国民民主「政策ごとに協議」で合意 「103万円の壁」焦点に Due to 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal, the DPFP voted for support a vote of no confidence against the Kishida cabinet of the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition at the time. Because of this opposition, Komeito and the LDP removed policy supported by the DPFP from the supplementary budget. This caused DPFP disengage from discussion with LDP and Komeito, and the party instead moved to support candidates from the CDPJ in elections against the LDP/Komeito coalition. in the 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election, the party came in second in the national popular vote and won 17 seats, surpassing Komeito to become the fourth-largest party in the National Diet overall. In December 2025, DPFP reached an agreement for the implementation of its own flagship policies following extensive negotiations with the government. Stating that a "relationship of trust has been fostered with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi", the party voted to approve the FY2026 budget proposal, even while maintaining its status as an opposition party.
Political position and ideologies
First iteration In 2018, the party was defined as centrist, while Freedom in the World 2019 rated it as centre-right. In 2018, Otsuka said that the term "Reformist-Centrist Party" describes the attitude and spirit of the DPP that thoroughly adheres to a democratic approach to realistically reform/solve various issues. In 2018, the DPFP officially stated its support of diplomatic pacifism, constitutionalism, and sustainable development.
Second iteration The DPFP describes itself as a "reformist centrist", and not populist, although the party has also been described as conservative, as well as populist. The DPFP's political position is considered centrist, or centre-right. On the other hand, the party is sometimes considered as centrist-technocratic, right-wing populist, or centre-left. The party has never joined an LDP-led ruling coalition, instead claiming cooperation with other parties, regardless of governing status, when policy aligns. It has reached deals with the LDP while also signing cooperation agreements with the CDP and RENGO on policies such as diplomacy, economy, and diversity.
Key policies taken to the 2024 Japanese general election included supporting raising the tax-free threshold for income tax, and reducing premiums for social insurance. The DPFP also supports the reopening and new construction of nuclear power plants, as well as greater investment in defence spending and defence manufacturing. On immigration, the party campaigned on investigating social insurance coverage for foreign residents. The party advocates for the use of expansionary fiscal policy.国民民主党との「政策協力」やるべきことやってはいけないこと、積極財政に傾けばインフレ過熱 During the 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election, the DPFP softened some policy positions on foreign residents due to claims of xenophobia, while also rescinding their previous support for consumption tax to be halved to 5%.
Leadership PositionNameLeaderYuichiro TamakiDeputy LeaderMotohisa FurukawaSecretary GeneralKazuya ShimbaChairman in the House of CouncillorsYasue FunayamaChairman of the General CouncilYoshifumi HamanoChairman of the Diet Affairs CommitteeMotohisa FurukawaChairman of the Policy Affairs Research CouncilMakoto HamaguchiChairman of the Election Strategy CommitteeToshihide MuraokaDeputy Secretary GeneralSecretary General in the House of CouncillorsTakanori KawaiSource:
Leaders No.NameConstituency / titleTerm of officeImageElection resultsTook officeLeft officePreceding parties: Democratic Party (2016) (centre), Kibō no Tō (centre-right), and Liberal Party (2016) (centre-left)1 Co-leadershipKohei Otsuka(1959–2026) Yuichiro Tamaki (born 1969)Otsuka: Cou for AichiTamaki:Rep for Kagawa 2nd7 May 20184 September 2018 2Yuichiro Tamaki(born 1969)Rep for Kagawa 2nd4 September 201811 September 2020Successor parties: Constitutional Democratic Party (centre-left) and Democratic Party For the People (centre-right)1Yuichiro Tamaki(born 1969)Rep for Kagawa 2nd11 September 2020Incumbent — Motohisa Furukawa(born 1965)Acting Rep for Aichi 2nd 4 December 2024 4 March 2025
Election results House of Representatives + House of Representatives Election Leader Candidates Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Government No. ± Share Number % Number % 2021 Yuichiro Tamaki 27 2.4% 5th 1,246,812 2.17% 2,593,396 4.51% 202442 17 6.0% 4th2,349,5844.33%6,172,42711.32% 2026 104 6.0% 4th 4,243,282 7.52% 5,572,951 9.73%
House of Councillors + House of Councillors Election Leader Candidates Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Status Won ± Share Total ± No. Share No. Share 2019 Yuichiro Tamaki 4.83% 6th 3,256,859 6.47% 3,481,078 6.95% Successor parties: Constitutional Democratic Party & Democratic Party For the People 2022 Yuichiro Tamaki 22 4.00% 6th 2,038,655 3.83% 3,159,657 5.96% 2025 41 12 13.60% 12 3rd 7,180,653 12.14% 7,620,493 12.88%
See also Centrist populism Conservative mainstream (in Japanese) Minsha kyōkai
References
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