Leader of the Opposition (Japan)

Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent Yoshihiko Noda since 23 September 2024
Term length	While the leader of the main political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government.
Inaugural holder	Shigeru Yoshida
Formation	1947

The leader of the Opposition (Japan) is the leader of the main opposition party who is not in power. This is not the official position established by law. As a result of the 2024 Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, Japanese ex-PM Yoshihiko Noda became the leader of the Opposition. ^{[1] [2]}

Overview

Under the 1955 System, the chairman of the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) served as the leader of the Opposition. ^[3] In particular, Takako Doi showed leadership as the first female opposition leader, and in the 1989 Japanese House of Councillors election, the JSP won a victory over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the popular vote. This movement is called the Madonna Whirlwind because many female candidates won. ^{[4] [5]}

After the collapse of the 1955 System, the leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the DPJ succeeding parties have been the leaders of the Opposition.

In 2000, as part of political reform, the question time was introduced to the Diet of Japan, and the opposition leader's role as the Leader of the Opposition has increased. ^[6] In particular, at question Time in 2012, opposition leader Shinzo Abe, the President of the LDP, drew attention by making Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda promise to dissolve the House of Representatives. ^{[7] [8]}

In the 2014 Japanese general election, Banri Kaieda failed to win seats in both the constituency and proportional representation block. The failure of the incumbent opposition leader was the first in 65 years since Tetsu Katayama's defeat in the 1949 Japanese general election and the first since the transition to a parallel voting system in 1994. ^{[9] [10]}

List of Leaders of the Opposition (1947-present)

• Rep = Member of the House of Representatives
• Cou = Member of the House of Councillors

Portrait	Name Electoral District	Party		Term of Office			General Elections	Ref	Government
				Took office	Left office	Duration			Party		Cabinet	Prime Minister
	Shigeru Yoshida Rep for Kōchi at-large (1878-1967)		Liberal	24 May 1947	15 October 1948	1 year, 145 days	ー			Socialist	Katayama	Tetsu Katayama
			Democratic Liberal				ー			Democratic	Ashida	Hitoshi Ashida
	Tetsu Katayama Rep forKanagawa 3rd (1887-1978)		Socialist	15 October 1948	23 January 1949	93 days	1949			Democratic Liberal	Yoshida II	Shigeru Yoshida
	Takeru Inukai Rep for Okayama 2nd (1896-1960)		Democratic	23 January 1949	10 February 1950	1 year, 19 days	ー				Yoshida III
Vacant 10 February 1950 - 28 April 1950										Liberal
	Gizo Tomabechi Rep for Aomori 1st (1880-1959)		National Democratic	28 April 1950	8 February 1952	1 year, 287 days	ー
Vacant 8 February 1952 - 13 June 1952
	Mamoru Shigemitsu Rep for Ōita 2nd (1887-1957)		Kaishintō	13 June 1952	24 November 1954	2 years, 165 days	1952
							1953				Yoshida IV
							ー				Yoshida V
	Ichirō Hatoyama Rep for Tokyo 1st (1883-1959)		Japan Democratic	24 November 1954	10 December 1954	17 days	ー
	Taketora Ogata Rep for Fukuoka 1st (1888-1956)		Liberal	10 December 1954	13 October 1955	308 days	1955			Japan Democratic	Hatoyama I	Ichirō Hatoyama
							ー				Hatoyama II
	Mosaburō Suzuki Rep for Tokyo 3rd (1893-1970)		Socialist	13 October 1955	23 March 1960	4 years, 163 days	ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Hatoyama III
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Ishibashi	Tanzan Ishibashi
							1958			Liberal Democratic	Kishi I	Nobusuke Kishi
							ー				Kishi II
	Inejirō Asanuma Rep for Tokyo 1st (1898-1960)		Socialist	23 March 1960	12 October 1960	204 days	ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Ikeda I	Hayato Ikeda
	Saburō Eda (Acting) Cou for Okayama at-large (1907-1977)		Socialist	12 October 1960	6 March 1961	146 days	1960
							ー				Ikeda II
	Jōtarō Kawakami Rep for Hyōgo 1st (1889-1965)		Socialist	6 March 1961	6 May 1965	4 years, 62 days	1963
							ー				Ikeda III
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Satō I	Eisaku Satō
	Kōzō Sasaki Rep for Miyagi 1st (1900-1985)		Socialist	6 May 1965	19 August 1967	2 years, 106 days	1967
							ー				Satō II
	Seiichi Katsumata Rep for Shizuoka 2nd (1908-1989)		Socialist	19 August 1967	4 October 1968	1 year, 47 days	ー
Vacant 4 October 1968 - 30 November 1968
	Tomomi Narita Rep for Kagawa 1st (1912-1979)		Socialist	30 November 1968	13 December 1977	9 years, 14 days	1969
							ー				Satō III
							1972			Liberal Democratic	Tanaka I	Kakuei Tanaka
							ー				Tanaka II
							1976			Liberal Democratic	Miki	Takeo Miki
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Fukuda	Takeo Fukuda
	Ichio Asukata Mayor of Yokohama ↓ Rep for Tokyo 1st (1915-1990)		Socialist	13 December 1977	7 September 1983	5 years, 269 days	ー
							1979			Liberal Democratic	Ōhira I	Masayoshi Ōhira
							1980				Ōhira II
							ー			Liberal Democratic	ー	Masayoshi Ito Acting
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Suzuki	Zenkō Suzuki
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Nakasone I	Yasuhiro Nakasone
	Masashi Ishibashi Rep for Nagasaki 2nd (1924-2019)		Socialist	7 September 1983	8 September 1986	3 years, 2 days	1983
							1986				Nakasone II
							ー				Nakasone III
	Takako Doi Rep for Hyōgo 2nd (1928-2014)		Socialist	8 September 1986	31 July 1991	4 years, 327 days	ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Uno	Sōsuke Uno
							1990			Liberal Democratic	Kaifu I	Toshiki Kaifu
							ー				Kaifu II
	Makoto Tanabe Rep for Gunma 1st (1922-2015)		Socialist	31 July 1991	19 January 1993	1 year, 173 days	ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Miyazawa	Kiichi Miyazawa
	Sadao Yamahana Rep for Tokyo 11th (1936-1999)		Socialist	19 January 1993	9 August 1993	203 days	1993
	Yōhei Kōno Rep for Kanagawa 5th (born 1937)		Liberal Democratic	9 August 1993	30 June 1994	326 days	ー			Japan New	Hosokawa	Morihiro Hosokawa
							ー			Japan Renewal	Hata	Tsutomu Hata
	Tsutomu Hata Rep for Nagano 2nd (1935-2017)		Japan Renewal	30 June 1994	10 December 1994	164 days	ー			Socialist	Murayama	Tomiichi Murayama
	Toshiki Kaifu Rep for Aichi 3rd (1931-2022)		New Frontier	10 December 1994	28 December 1995	1 year, 19 days	ー
	Ichirō Ozawa Rep for Iwate 2nd ↓ Rep for Iwate 4th (born 1942)		New Frontier	28 December 1995	31 December 1997	2 years, 4 days	ー
							1996			Liberal Democratic	Hashimoto I	Ryutaro Hashimoto
							ー				Hashimoto II
	Naoto Kan Rep for Tokyo 18th (born 1946)		Democratic	31 December 1997	25 September 1999	1 year, 269 days	ー
			Democratic				ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Obuchi	Keizō Obuchi
	Yukio Hatoyama Rep for Hokkaido 9th (born 1947)		Democratic	25 September 1999	10 December 2002	3 years, 77 days	ー
							2000			Liberal Democratic	Mori I	Yoshirō Mori
							ー				Mori II
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Koizumi I	Junichiro Koizumi
	Naoto Kan Rep for Tokyo 18th (born 1946)		Democratic	10 December 2002	18 May 2004	1 year, 161 days	2003
							ー				Koizumi II
	Katsuya Okada Rep for Mie 3rd (born 1953)		Democratic	18 May 2004	17 September 2005	1 year, 123 days	2005
	Seiji Maehara Rep for Kyoto 2nd (born 1962)		Democratic	17 September 2005	7 April 2006	203 days	ー
							ー				Koizumi III
	Ichirō Ozawa Rep for Iwate 4th (born 1942)		Democratic	7 April 2006	16 May 2009	3 years, 40 days	ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Abe I	Shinzo Abe
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Fukuda	Yasuo Fukuda
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Asō	Tarō Asō
	Yukio Hatoyama Rep for Hokkaido 9th (born 1947)		Democratic	16 May 2009	16 September 2009	124 days	2009
	Masatoshi Wakabayashi (Acting) Cou for Nagano at-large (1934-2023)		Liberal Democratic	16 September 2009	28 September 2009	13 days	ー			Democratic	Hatoyama	Yukio Hatoyama
	Sadakazu Tanigaki Rep for Kyoto 5th (born 1945)		Liberal Democratic	28 September 2009	26 September 2012	2 years, 365 days	ー
							ー			Democratic	Kan	Naoto Kan
							ー			Democratic	Noda	Yoshihiko Noda
	Shinzo Abe Rep for Yamaguchi 4th (1954-2022)		Liberal Democratic	26 September 2012	26 December 2012	92 days	2012
	Banri Kaieda Rep for Tokyo PR block (born 1949)		Democratic	26 December 2012	15 December 2014	1 year, 355 days	2014			Liberal Democratic	Abe II	Shinzo Abe
Vacant 15 December 2014 - 18 January 2015											Abe III
	Katsuya Okada Rep for Mie 3rd (born 1953)		Democratic	18 January 2015	15 September 2016	1 year, 242 days	ー
			Democratic				ー
	Renhō Cou for Tokyo at-large (born 1967)		Democratic	18 September 2016	1 September 2017	352 days	ー
	Seiji Maehara Rep for Kyoto 2nd (born 1962)		Democratic	1 September 2017	22 October 2017	52 days	2017
	Yukio Edano Rep for Saitama 5th (born 1964)		Former Constitutional Democratic	22 October 2017	30 November 2021	4 years, 40 days	ー				Abe IV
			Constitutional Democratic				ー
							ー			Liberal Democratic	Suga	Yoshihide Suga
							2021			Liberal Democratic	Kishida I	Fumio Kishida
							ー				Kishida II
	Kenta Izumi Rep for Kyoto 3rd (born 1974)		Constitutional Democratic	30 November 2021	23 September 2024	2 years, 299 days	ー
	Yoshihiko Noda Rep for Chiba 4th ↓ Rep for Chiba 14th (born 1957)		Constitutional Democratic	23 September 2024	Incumbent	167 days	ー
							2024			Liberal Democratic	Ishiba I	Shigeru Ishiba
							ー				Ishiba II

References

1. "Japan's main opposition CDP picks Noda Yoshihiko as leader". NHK (in Japanese). 2024-09-23. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
2. "Japan ex-PM Yoshihiko Noda elected main opposition leader". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 2024-09-23. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
3. "戦後政治と政党" [postwar politics and political parties](PDF). NHK (in Japanese). 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
4. "1989年　マドンナ旋風" [1989: The Madonna Whirlwind]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). 2019-07-21. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
5. "マドンナ旋風　自民沈む　「山が動いた」…８９年" [Madonna whirlwind, LDP sinking "Mountain moved"…89]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
6. "党首討論とは" [What is the question time？]. NHK (in Japanese). 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
7. "第181回国会　国家基本政策委員会合同審査会" [181st Joint Review Committee of the National Basic Policy Committee of the Diet] (in Japanese). House of Representatives of Japan. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
8. "【アーカイブ】野田氏VS安倍氏、解散表明に至る党首討論のやりとり" [[Archive] Mr. Noda vs. Mr. Abe, exchange of party leader discussions leading up to announcement of dissolution]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 2022-01-01. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
9. "民主・海江田氏が落選　代表辞任へ" [Kaieda lost his seat. He will resign the Leader of the DPJ.]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
10. "民主・海江田代表「つらかったこと限りない」　辞任表明" ["There was no end to the pain.", Kaieda said. He resigned the Leader of the DPJ.]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2024-10-06.