The was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese political party that existed in early 1998. It was founded by Diet members that broke away from the New Frontier Party

New Frontier Party

The was a Japanese political party that existed during the mid-1990s. As a merger of several small parties, the party was ideologically diverse, with its membership ranging from moderate socialists to neoliberals and conservatives...

 in January 1998. It was a liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 party espousing various left of centre causes.

The name has its origins in the Taishō period

Taisho period

The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...

 democratic movements, which used the word yūai (fraternity

Fraternity

A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...

) as a motto. The party also claimed that yūai had a phonetic similarity to the English "you and I", representing their hope of cooperating with ordinary Japanese.

The party was led by Lower House

House of Representatives of Japan

The is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,...

 member Kansei Nakano

Kansei Nakano

is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Vice-Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet.Nakano was born in 1940 in Nagasaki. At age four, he experienced the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. In 1963, he graduated from the Law Department of Kansai University.Beginning...

, now a member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party of Japan

The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...

.

In April 1998, the New Fraternity Party merged with the Good Governance Party

Good Governance Party

The was a Japanese political party which was in existence for a short period in early 1998. It was a centrist, reformist party that merged with other parties in April 1998 to form the Democratic Party of Japan....

, the previous Democratic Party (1996-1998)

Democratic Party of Japan (1996-1998)

The is a now defunct Japanese political party. It was one of the forerunners to the modern-day Democratic Party of Japan. The two leading lights of the party, Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, subsequently became Prime Minister one after the other at the end of the first decade of the 21st century....

 and the to form the brand-new Democratic Party

Democratic Party of Japan

The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...

.