Social Democratic Party (Japan) (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The Social Democratic Party ( Shakai Minshu-t, often abbreviated to Shamin-t; also known as the Social Democratic Party of Japan (abbreviated to SDPJ or SDP in English) is a political party that advocates for the establishment of a socialist Japan. It now defines itself as a social democratic party. The party was founded in 1996 by the leftist legislators of the defunct Japan Socialist Party (JSP), which was Japan's largest opposition party in the 1955 system. The JSP enjoyed a short period of government participation from 1993 to 1994 and later formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) under Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama (from the JSP) from 1994 to 1996. After its electoral defeat in 1996, it lost the more moderate members to the Democratic Party of Japan in 1998. As of October 2010, it has 10 representatives in the national diet.