Rikken Dōshikai

Rikken Dōshikai 立憲同志会
Leader	Katsura Tarō Katō Takaaki
Founded	December 23, 1913
Dissolved	October 10, 1916
Succeeded by	Kenseikai
Headquarters	Tokyo
Politics of Japan Political parties Elections

Katsura Tarō, founder of the Rikken Dōshikai

The Rikken Dōshikai (立憲同志会, "Constitutional Association of Allies") was a political party active in the Empire of Japan in the early years of the 20th century. It was also known as simply the Dōshikai.

Founded by Prime Minister Katsura Tarō on February 7, 1913,^[1] the Rikken Dōshikai largely served to support his cabinet against criticism by the Rikken Seiyūkai party led by Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio, which held a majority of the seats in the Lower House of the Diet of Japan at the time. Katsura was able to convince 90 Diet members (including all 31 members of the Chūō Club and half of the Rikken Kokumintō) to join his new party.^[2]

The party survived Katsura's death in 1913, and under the leadership of Katō Takaaki placed five of its members in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu in 1914–1916. It became the majority party in the Diet after the 1915 General Election, with a 153 seats.

After the dissolution of the Ōkuma government, the Dōshikai merged with Chūseikai and other small political parties to form the Kenseikai in October 1916.^[3]

References

• Garon, Sheldon (2001). The State and Labor in Modern Japan. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23915-7.
• Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Belknap Press. ISBN 0-674-00991-6.
• Sims, Richard (1990). Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06838-6.

External links

• National Diet Library of Japan

Notes

1. National Diet Library of Japan
2. Garon. The State and Labor in Modern Japan. page 34
3. Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan