History

Our party's roots began in 1961, with the launch of the Political Federation for Clean Government. That was followed by the founding of the Komeito Party in 1964 as a nationally certified political party. From the 1990s, however, the Japanese political landscape underwent a major transformation and the Komeito party was officially dissolved in 1994 to partner in a coalition government. The partnership ultimately proved unsuccessful and the former Komeito legislators banded together to launch New Komeito four years later. Still, despite the political evolution that our party has undergone over the years, its fundamental ideals and principles remain the same: to give political voice to the most vulnerable and underrepresented members of society on the issues of peace, social security, education, the environment and human rights.

1961
  • November 27Establishes Political Federation for Clean Government
1962
  • April 2Launches party organ newspaper, Komei Shimbun
1964
  • November 17Holds national convention launching Komeito Party
1965
  • June 14Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly dissolved after Komeito calls for recall election over corruption scandal
  • July 4Komeito wins 11 seats in House of Councilors election
  • July 24All 23 Komeito candidates win in Tokyo assembly election
1967
  • January 29Party wins 25 seats in House of Representatives election
  • MayKomeito lawmakers take up cadium poisoning case in Diet
1969
  • March 8Submits child subsidy bill to Diet
  • December 28Wins 47 seats in Lower House election; becomes third-largest party
1971
  • May 21Government backs Komeito's child subsidy bill, passes Diet
  • June 15First Komeito delegation heads for China, issues joint communiqué with China-Japan Friendship Association
1975
  • April 28Following nationwide local elections, total number of Komeito lawmakers at the municipal and prefectural assembly level reaches 3,300
1976
  • December 14Officially registered in Lower House as "Komeito Party / Citizens' Congress"
1979
  • October 7Wins 58 seats in Lower House election
1980
  • June 22Both houses of Diet hold simultaneous elections; number of Lower House seats declines to 34
1982
  • June 10Submits petition calling for abolition of nuclear weapons signed by 10 million Japanese citizens to UN Secretary General
1983
  • December 18Wins record 59 seats in Lower House election
1986
  • JulyWins 57 seats in Lower House election and receives 7.43 million proportional representation votes in concurrently-held Upper House election
1992
  • JulyWins 14 seats in Upper House election, including all six candidates running in single-seat election districts
1993
  • July 18Wins 52 seats in Lower House election
  • August 9Coalition government led by Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa established; four Komeito lawmakers appointed to Cabinet posts
1994
  • April 28Coalition government led by Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata established; six Komeito lawmakers appointed to Cabinet posts
  • June 25Hata Cabinet resigns en masse
  • November 5Party holds national convention; two-phase dissolution accepted as part of assimilation into New Frontier Party
  • December 5Municipal and prefectural assembly members of former Komeito Party form Komei party
  • December 10National convention for the launch of New Frontier Party held
1997
  • July 6All 21 Komei candidates win in Tokyo assembly election
  • December 27Dissolution of New Frontier Party decided at party general meeting
1998
  • November 7National legislators of former Komeito Party establish New Komeito
1999
  • October 5Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party and New Komeito agree to partner in coalition government
2000
  • April 5Coalition government led by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori inaugurated
  • June 25Wins 31 seats in Lower House election, while garnering record 7.76 million proportional representation votes
2001
  • April 26First administration led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi inaugurated; three-party coalition extended
2003
  • November 19Second Koizumi Cabinet inaugurated, with LDP and New Komeito partnering in coalition government
2006
  • September 26Cabinet led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe inaugurated; LDP-New Komeito coalition partnership extended
  • September 30New Komeito holds national convention, adopts New Declaration of Principles
2007
  • September 26Cabinet led by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda inaugurated; LDP and New Komeito extend coalition partnership
2008
  • September 24Cabinet led by Prime Minister Taro Aso inaugurated; LDP-New Komeito coalition extended
2009
  • August 30New Komeito falls short in Lower House election, only wins 21 seats
  • September 8New Komeito holds Conference of National Representatives, elects Natsuo Yamaguchi as new Chief Representative
2010
  • July 11Wins nine seats in the Upper House election (three district and six proportional)
2011
  • April 10In the first half of the unified local government elections, 329 out of the 331 local assembly candidates on the New Komeito ticket were voted into office
  • April 24In the second half of the local elections, all 1,263 New Komeito candidates won seats
2012
  • December 16The party wins 31 seats in the Upper House elections, ten more than in the previous poll. All nine candidates running in single-seat election districts win for the first time in the party’s history
  • December 25The Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito agree to partner in a coalition government; the two previously joined forces in a partnership that ended in 2009
  • December 26The Japanese Cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicks off with New Komeito Lower House member Akihiro Ota serving as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
2013
  • June 23All 23 New Komeito candidates win Tokyo metropolitan assembly election for the sixth consecutive time since 1993, making the party holder of the second most seats in the legislature
  • July 21Wins 11 seats in Lower House election, including all four candidates running in the single-seat districts in Saitama, Tokyo, Osaka and Kanagawa prefectures. The party secured a total of 7,568,080 proportional representation system votes, making it the second largest party under the system. Winning majorities in both houses of the Diet ensures that the ruling LDP-New Komeito coalition will be able to pass legislation crucial to an economic recovery and other critical policy goals