Shikōkai () is a faction led by Tarō Asō within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Before the dissolution of other factions, it was the third-largest faction within the LDP. It was established in 2017.
History It was formed by joining the "Ikōkai (former Aso faction)" led by Tarō Asō and the "Bancho Seisaku Kenkyūjo (Santō faction) led by Akiko Santō in 2017.
After the 2019 House of Councillors election, Santo, a member of the Aso faction, became President of the House of Councillors.
2020 LDP Presidential election In the 2020 LDP presidential election, Shikōkai endorsed Yoshihide Suga. As a result of election, Suga was elected to the President of the Liberal Democratic Party and became the Prime Minister.
Bar visit Scandal Some media reported that Jun Matsumoto, former chair of National Public Safety Commission, a member of the Shikōkai, and Aso’s ally, visited eateries including bars in the capital's upscale Ginza district separately at night in defiance of the national government's request for people to refrain from nonessential and nonurgent outings after 8 p.m. amid the coronavirus state of emergency. Following the scandal, Matsumoto left the LDP. Matsumoto then ran as an independent in the 2021 general election, but was defeated by CDP’s Go Shinohara in Kanagawa 1st.
2021 LDP presidential election In the 2021 LDP presidential election, Taro Kono, a member of the Aso faction, announced his candidacy. Meanwhile, Akira Amari and Shun'ichi Suzuki, Asō's brother-in-law, supported Fumio Kishida. Asō feared that the factions would split. As an Shikōkai, a faction endorsed both Kono and Kishida, and left the vote up to the individual members of the Diet to decide. As a result of the election, Kishida was elected to the President of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Kishida appointed Amari as LDP secretary general to thank Asō faction member such as Amari for his support. However, due to the fact that he was dug up for past political scandals, Amari lost his Kamagawa 13th seat in the 2021 general election shortly afterwards, losing to CDP’s Hideshi Futori. Amari won a seat in the Southern Kanto PR block and maintained his position as a member of the House of Representatives, but was forced to resign as secretary general.
Post presidential election split In February 2022, four members of the House of Representatives, former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Tsutomu Sato, Nobuhide Minorikawa, Toshiko Abe, and Hideki Niwa, announced their withdrawal from the Aso faction. Sato was close to former PM Suga and supported Kono in the 2021 LDP presidential election. As a result, Asō faction retreated from a second faction to a third faction within the party. It is also reported that the reason behind Sato's departure was the return of Matsumoto Jun, who left the LDP due to the scandal.
Sole remaining faction In January 2024, as LDP faction's political funds scandal was discovered and other factions decided to dissolve, Asō faction members discussed their future actions. Many of its members insisted on survival and left the response to leader Asō. However, former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who opposed the faction's survival, withdrew from the faction. Eventually, Shikōkai survived and became the only faction within the LDP.
2024 LDP presidential election As in the previous election, Taro Kono, a member of the Shikōkai, announced his candidacy in the 2024 LDP presidential election. Shikōkai members supported Kono, Yōko Kamikawa, or other candidates and Shikōkai did not endorsed any particular candidate as a faction.
After 2026 general election After the 2026 general election, many Diet members participated in the Shikōkai and became a force with 60 members. On the other hand, when former Justice Minister Eisuke Mori became Speaker of the House of Representatives, he left the Shikōkai according to custom.
Shikōkai faction heads Image Faction head Years 1Tarō Asō2017
Membership Executives + Shikōkai faction executivesLeaderTarō AsōActing leaderAkinori EtoKazunori TanakaDeputy leaderShun'ichi SuzukiShunichi YamaguchiSecretaryGeneralVacantSecretaryDirectorShinji Inoue
House of Representatives + 49 members NameBirth date and AgeConstituencyCurrent positions or former positionsNotesHiroki AbeKyushu PRNoneJiro AkamaKanagawa 14thChair of the National Public Safety CommissionTarō AsōFukuoka 8thVice President of the Liberal Democratic PartyTatsunori IbayashiShizuoka 2ndNoneYosei IdeNagano 3rdNoneSoichiro ImaedaAichi 14thState Minister for Digital TransformationState Minister of Cabinet OfficeShinji InoueTokyo 25thNoneTakahiro InoueFukuoka 1stSpecial Advisor to the Prime Minister of JapanShintaro ItoTohoku PRNoneArfiya EriChiba 5thParliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign AffairsAkinori EtoTohoku PRNoneYui KanazawaKanagawa 20thNoneMasami KawanoKyushu PRNoneKeiro KitagamiKyoto 4thNoneMasahiro KōmuraYamaguchi 1stNoneTaro KonoKanagawa 15thNoneShozo KudōAichi 4thNoneKaren MakishimaKanagawa 17thNoneHideki MatsushitaHokkaido 9thNoneNatsuko MaruoKanagawa 1stNoneAsato MiharaKyushu PR（Fukuoka 9th）NoneKiyoko MoriharaTokyo PRNoneJun MukōyamaHokkaido 8thParliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and CommunicationsNagisa MurakiHokkaido PRNoneYoji MutoGifu 3rdNoneKeiko NagaokaNorthern Kanto PR（Ibaraki 7th）NoneYasumasa NagasakaAichi 9thState Minister of Health, Labour and WelfareTakamoto NakagawaTōkai PRNoneHiroyuki NakamuraHokkaido 4thState Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and TechnologyKenji NakanishiKanagawa 3rdNoneNorihiro NakayamaShikoku PRNoneHirobumi NikiTokushima 1stState Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Yasuhiro OkamotoAichi 5thNoneHiroaki SaitoNiigata 3rdNoneTakakazu SetoShikoku PR（Kagawa 2nd）State Minister of Cabinet OfficeState Minister for ReconstructionKeisuke SuzukiKanagawa 7thNoneShun'ichi SuzukiIwate 2ndSecretary-General of the Liberal Democratic PartyYasufumi TanahashiGifu 2ndNoneKazunori TanakaKanagawa 10thNoneShin TsuchidaTokyo 13thNoneHideki TsujiTōkai PR（Aichi 2nd）NoneKenji YamadaHyōgo 7thState Minister of Economy, Trade and IndustryState Minister of Cabinet OfficeMotoyasu YamadaHyōgo 11thNoneDaishiro YamagiwaKanagawa 18thNoneShunichi YamaguchiTokushima 2ndNoneTsuyoshi YamaguchiHyōgo 12thNoneSakon YamamotoTōkai PRNoneShizuo YamashitaAichi 16thNoneHiromasa YonaiTohoku PR（Iwate 1st）None
House of Councillors + 11 members NameBirth date and AgeConstituencyCurrent positions or former positionsNotesHaruko ArimuraNational PRChair of the LDP General CouncilKeiichiro AsaoKanagawaNoneMasahito FujikawaAichiNoneToshimitsu FunahashiHokkaidoNoneEriko ImaiNational PRNoneKuniko InoguchiChibaNoneMasayuki KamiyaNational PRParliamentary Secretary for Health, Labour and WelfareYūsuke NakanishiTokushima-KōchiNoneSatoshi ŌieFukuokaNoneKatsunori TakahashiTochigiState Minister for Internal Affairs and CommunicationsHiroshi YamadaNational PRNone
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