Komeito

{{see also|Kōmeitō (1962–1998)}}

Komeito began as the Political Federation for Clean Government in 1961, but held its inaugural convention as Komeito on 17 November 1964.{{cite web |last1=Harano |first1=Jōji |title=Kōmeitō Turns Fifty: A History of Political Twists and Compromises |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00145/komeito-turns-fifty-a-history-of-political-twists-and-compromises.html |website=Nippon.com |publisher=The Nippon Communications Foundation |access-date=12 May 2019|date=2014-11-25 }}{{cite web |title=About Us: History |url=https://www.komei.or.jp/en/about/history.html |website=Komeito |access-date=12 May 2019}} The three characters 公明党 have the approximate meanings of "public/government" (公 kō), "light/brightness" (明 mei), and "political party" (党 tō). The combination "kōmei" (公明) is usually taken to mean "justice".{{Cite web |title=justice - Jisho.org |url=https://jisho.org/search/justice |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=jisho.org}}{{Additional source needed|date=October 2024}}

Komeito's predecessor party, Kōmeitō, was formed in 1962, but it had begun in 1954 as the Kōmei Political League. It lasted until it merged with the NKP in 1998.{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} About Us {{!}} KOMEITO |url=https://www.komei.or.jp/en/about/history.html#anc04 |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=www.komei.or.jp}}

In 1957, a group of Young Men's Division members campaigning for a Soka Gakkai candidate in an Osaka Upper House by-election were arrested for distributing money, cigarettes, and caramels at supporters' residences, in violation of election law, and on July 3 of that year, at the beginning of an event memorialized as the "Osaka Incident," Daisaku Ikeda was arrested in Osaka. He was taken into custody in his capacity as Soka Gakkai's Youth Division Chief of Staff for overseeing activities that constituted violations of election law. He spent two weeks in jail and appeared in court forty-eight times before he was cleared of all charges in January 1962.{{cite web|url=http://www.has.vcu.edu/wrs/profiles/SokaGakkai.htm |title=Commitment to Privacy |access-date=2015-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512222047/http://www.has.vcu.edu/wrs/profiles/SokaGakkai.htm |archive-date=2014-05-12 }}

In 1968, fourteen of its members were convicted of forging absentee ballots in Shinjuku, and eight were sentenced to prison for electoral fraud. In the 1960s it was widely criticized for violating the separation of church and state, and in February 1970 all three major Japanese newspapers printed editorials demanding that the party reorganize. It eventually broke apart based on promises to segregate from Soka Gakkai.{{cite book |last1=Kabashima |first1=Ikuo|last2=Steel|first2=Gill|title=Changing Politics in Japan |date=17 August 2012 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0801457630 |page=38 |quote=Other smaller parties include Komeito (the party officially became known as New Komeito in 1998), a party that Soka Gakkai formed in 1964 from its precursor, the Komei Political League.}}{{cite book |last1=McCormick |first1=John |title=Comparative Politics in Transition |date=2012 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1111832575 |page=179}}Jeffrey Haynes Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics Page 17 "Talking to young Japanese people one normally gets very little sense of enthusiasm about Buddhism, and few people seem to take seriously the notion that the New Komeito Party is a Buddhist political party. The Komeito or 'Clean Government Party' ..."

In the 1980s, Shimbun Akahata discovered that many Soka Gakkai members were rewarding acquaintances with presents in return for Komeito votes and that Okinawa residents had changed their addresses to elect Komeito politicians.{{cite book|last=Kira|first=Yōichi|title=Jitsuroku: Sōka Gakkai = Nanatsu no daizai|date=1986|publisher=Shin Nihon Shuppansha|location=Tōkyō|isbn=4406013881|edition=Shohan.}}

Kōmeitō joined the Hosokawa and Hata anti-LDP coalition cabinets in 1993 and 1994. After the collapse of the anti-LDP and anti-JCP governments ({{nihongo2|非自民・非共産連立政権}}) and the electoral and campaign finance reforms of 1994, the Kōmeitō split in December 1994: The {{Nihongo|"New Kōmei Party"|公明新党|Kōmei Shintō}} joined the New Frontier Party (NFP) a few days later in an attempt to unify the splintered opposition.Tun-Jen Cheng, Deborah A. Brown Religious Organizations And Democratization: Case Studies 2006 Page 279 "The demise of the Shinshinto into a variety of new splinter parties, including a revived Komeito (now called "New Komeito"), and increasing public dissatisfaction with the LDP-created political chaos. This situation was compounded by the ..." The other group, {{Nihongo|Kōmei|公明}}, continued to exist as a separate party. After the dissolution of the NFP in December 1997, former Kōmeitō members from the NFP founded two new groups: the {{Nihongo|"New Peace Party"|新党平和|Shintō Heiwa}} and the {{Nihongo|"Dawn Club"|黎明クラブ|Reimei Club}} in the House of Councillors, but some ex-Kōmeitō politicians such as Shōzō Azuma followed Ichirō Ozawa into the Liberal Party. The Reimei Club merged into the New Peace Party a few weeks later in January 1998. Finally, in November 1998, Kōmei and New Peace Party merged to re-establish Kōmeitō (referred to in English now as "New Komeito" – the party's name is just Kōmeitō as before the 1994 split).

The Japan Echo alleged in 1999 that Soka Gakkai distributed fliers to local branches describing how to abuse the jūminhyō residence registration system in order to generate a large number of votes for Komeito candidates in specific districts.{{cite news|last=Endou |first=Kôichi |title=The Kômeitô: A Virus Infecting the Body Politic |url=http://www.japanecho.co.jp/docs/html/260405.html |access-date=28 April 2014 |newspaper=Japan Echo |date=August 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000526004454/http://www.japanecho.co.jp/docs/html/260405.html |archive-date=May 26, 2000 }}

File:Komeitô activists canvassing in front of Himezi castle.jpg]]

The current conservative, more moderate, and centrist party was formed in 1998, in a merger of Kōmei and the New Peace Party. Since then it has joined coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which needs Komeito to maintain a majority in the Diet (especially in the House of Councillors which the LDP lost majority since 1989), and did well in the 2000 and 2001 parliamentary elections.

The LDP-Liberal coalition expanded to include the New Komeito Party in October 1999.Politics of Japan#Political Developments since 2000 New Komeito has been (and continues to be) a coalition partner in the Government of Japan since 1999 (excluding 2009–2011 when the Democratic Party of Japan was in power). As such, New Komeito supported a (temporary) change to Japan's "no-war constitution" in order for Japan to deploy troops in support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.{{cite book |last1=Kliman |first1=Daniel M. |title=Japan's Security Strategy in the Post-9/11 World: Embracing a New Realpolitik |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=0275990591 |edition=Volume 183 of Praeger Security International Series Volume 183 of Washington papers, ISSN 0278-937X}}

In the 2003 Japanese general election and 2004 Japanese House of Councillors election, the NKP did well, thanks to an extremely committed and well-organized voter base coming from Soka Gakkai. The party shares its support base with the LDP, made up of white-collar bureaucrats and rural populations, but also gained support from religious leaders. However, on 27 July 2005, NKP's Secretary-General said that his party would consider forming a coalition government with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) if the DPJ gained a majority in the House of Representatives. On 8 August 2005, then-Prime Minister and the president of LDP Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the Lower House and called for a general election, due to the rejection on some of the members of LDP for efforts to privatize Japan Post. The incumbent LDP-New Komeito coalition won a large majority in the 2005 general election.

Natsuo Yamaguchi became the party's leader on 8 September 2009 after the party and their coalition partner LDP suffered a major defeat in the 2009 general election, become part of the opposition for the first time since 1999. New Komeito lost ten seats, including that of party leader Akihiro Ota and general secretary Kazuo Kitagawa. On 8 September 2009, Yamaguchi replaced Ota as president of New Komeito.{{cite news |last1=Ito |first1=Masami |title=Ailing New Komeito taps policy chief as new boss |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/09/08/national/ailing-new-komeito-taps-policy-chief-as-new-boss/ |access-date=8 August 2012 |publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. |date=8 September 2009}}

In the general election on 16 December 2012, the LDP/Komeito coalition secured a supermajority and came back into government. The former party chief Akihiro Ota (Ohta) is currently Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.{{cite web|url=http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/96_abe/meibo/daijin/ohta_e.html|title=Akihiro OHTA (The Cabinet) – Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet|website=www.kantei.go.jp|access-date=19 March 2018}} The party also gained seats in the general election in 2014. In September 2014 the party changed its English name from New Komeito back to Komeito.{{cite news |author=|title=New Komeito drops 'New' from its name |url=https://japantoday.com/category/politics/new-komeito-party-drops-new-from-its-name |work=Japan Today |date=2014-09-28 |access-date=2017-04-28 }}{{cite news|title=Komeito removes 'New' from party name|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/25/national/politics-diplomacy/komeito-removes-new-party-name/#.WUGBWcm1tPN|access-date=2 February 2017|agency=Jiji|publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd.|date=2014-09-25|archive-date=30 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160830084523/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/25/national/politics-diplomacy/komeito-removes-new-party-name#.WUGBWcm1tPN|url-status=dead}}

In July 2015, Komeito backed Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's push to revise the Constitution in order to "give Japan's military limited powers to fight in foreign conflicts for the first time since World War II".{{attribution needed|date=January 2018}} This legislation, supported by the United States, would allow the "Self-Defense Forces to cooperate more closely with the U.S. by providing logistical support and, in certain circumstances, armed backup in international conflicts" and "complements guidelines in a bilateral agreement governing how Japanese and United States forces work together, which was signed by the two nations" earlier in 2015.{{cite news |last=Soble |first=Jonathan |date=16 July 2015 |title=Japan Moves to Allow Military Combat for First Time in 70 Years |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/world/asia/japans-lower-house-passes-bills-giving-military-freer-hand-to-fight.html |access-date=19 March 2018}}

On March 11, 2019, a project team of Komeito submitted proposals to Foreign Minister Taro Kono for an international agreement to regulate robotic weapons,{{cite news |title=Japan's Komeito political party seeks international regulations on robotic weapons |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/11/national/politics-diplomacy/japans-komeito-political-party-seeks-international-regulations-robotic-weapons/ |access-date=21 July 2019 |agency=Jiji Press |publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. |date=11 March 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Kiyomiya |first1=Ryo |title=Japan to seek global rules on autonomous 'killer robots' |url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903140039.html |access-date=21 July 2019 |publisher=The Asahi Shimbun |date=14 March 2019 |archive-date=4 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704184343/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903140039.html |url-status=dead }} calling on Japan to build global consensus for a "political declaration or a code of conduct, within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons".{{cite news |title=Japan's Komeito political party seeks international regulations on robotic weapons |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/11/national/politics-diplomacy/japans-komeito-political-party-seeks-international-regulations-robotic-weapons/ |access-date=21 July 2019 |agency=Jiji |publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. |date=11 March 2019}}

A self-proclaimed party of "humanitarian socialism",{{cn|date=December 2023}} Komeito's declared mission is to pioneer "people-centered politics, a politics based on a humanitarianism, that treats human life with the utmost respect and care".(New Komeito, 2002) On 24 April 2019, joint task force efforts with its coalition partner{{cite news |date=21 February 2018 |title=LDP, Komeito mull bill to compensate disabled for forced sterilization under old law |publisher=The Mainichi Newspapers |agency=The Mainichi |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180221/p2a/00m/0na/027000c |access-date=21 July 2019}}{{cite news |date=14 Mar 2019 |title=Victims sterilized under Japan's eugenics law to get ¥3.2 million each under state redress plan |publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. |agency=Kyodo News |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/14/national/victims-sterilized-japans-eugenics-law-get-%C2%A53-2-million-state-redress-plan/ |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126122954/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/14/national/victims-sterilized-japans-eugenics-law-get-%C2%A53-2-million-state-redress-plan/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |date=31 Oct 2018 |title=Remorse, Apology to Be Clarified in Relief Bill for Sterilization Victims |publisher=Nippon Communications Foundation |agency=Jiji Press |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2018103101356/ |url-status=dead |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721001401/https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2018103101356/ |archive-date=21 July 2019}} resulted in the passing of a bill mandating reparations and having the coalition government issue a formal apology to sterilization victims of the defunct Eugenic Protection Act, thus to advance human rights awareness in the wake of lawsuits{{cite news |date=29 June 2018 |title=Lawsuits over Japan's past forced sterilizations prompt ruling bloc to consider compensation ahead of court rulings |publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. |agency=Kyodo News |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/06/29/national/ruling-bloc-set-redress-japans-past-forced-sterilizations-ahead-court-rulings/ |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720235554/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/06/29/national/ruling-bloc-set-redress-japans-past-forced-sterilizations-ahead-court-rulings/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last1=Siripala |first1=Thisanka |title=Japan's Forced Sterilization Victims Hit Back With a Wave of Lawsuits |url=https://thediplomat.com/2018/05/japans-forced-sterilization-victims-hit-back-with-a-wave-of-lawsuits/ |access-date=21 July 2019 |website=The Diplomat}} related to the history of eugenics in Japan.{{cite news |date=24 April 2019 |title=Diet passes relief bill for the many victims of forced sterilization |publisher=The Asahi Shimbun |url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201904240040.html |url-status=dead |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720232858/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201904240040.html |archive-date=20 July 2019}}{{cite news |date=24 April 2019 |title=Diet passes bill to pay ¥3.2 million each to victims forcibly sterilized under Japan's eugenics law |publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. |agency=Kyodo News |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/24/national/japan-passes-bill-pay-survivors-forced-sterilization-eugenics-law-%C2%A53-2-million/ |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108005157/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/24/national/japan-passes-bill-pay-survivors-forced-sterilization-eugenics-law-%C2%A53-2-million/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last1=Rich |first1=Motoko |last2=Inoue |first2=Makiko |date=25 April 2019 |title=Japan to Compensate Forcibly Sterilized Patients, Decades After the Fact |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/world/asia/japan-sterilization-eugenics-compensation.html |access-date=20 July 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Katz |first1=Brigit |title=Japan Offers Apology and Compensation to Victims of Forced Sterilization |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/japan-offers-apology-and-compensation-victims-forced-sterilization-180972037/ |access-date=20 July 2019 |website=Smithsonian.com |publisher=The Smithsonian}}

Religious scholar and political analyst Masaru Satō explains that in postwar Japan there were two major parties, the Liberal Democratic Party representing financial interests and large corporations and the Japan Socialist Party largely advocating the interests of trade unions and the working class. There was no single party that represented people who belonged to neither, such as shop owners and housewives, among others. Komeito was thus able to capture the support of this constituency.{{Cite book |last=Sato |first=Masaru |title=A Transforming Force |publisher=Daisanbunmei-sha, Inc. |year=2017 |location=Japan |page=30}}

Despite the party's conservative ideology, it supports the protection and expansion of LGBT rights.{{Cite news|url=https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/14832897|title=Komeito leader blasts former key Kishida aide over LGBT put-down |work=The Asahi Shimbun |accessdate=14 March 2025}}{{Cite web |title=Komeito pushing for LGBT law during this Diet session {{!}} Komei News (June 1 , 2021) |url=https://www.komei.or.jp/en/news/detail/20210601_28510 |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Komeito |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Komeito, LDP policy czars back LGBT bill {{!}} Komei News (May 17 , 2023) |url=https://www.komei.or.jp/en/news/detail/20230517_28764 |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Komeito |language=en}}

Komeito regards the Soka Gakkai as a "major electoral constituency",{{cite web |title=About Us: On Politics and Religion |url=http://www.komei.or.jp/en/about/view.html |access-date=16 November 2016 |publisher=Komeito}} having formally separated from the religious group and revised both its platform and regulations in 1970 to reflect a "secular orientation".{{cite book |last=Aruga |first=Hiroshi |title=Global Citizens |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-924039-6 |editor1-last=Machacek |editor1-first=David |chapter=Chapter 4: Soka Gakkai and Japanese Politics |editor2-last=Wilson |editor2-first=Bryan}}{{rp|117}} Observers continue to describe Komeito as the Soka Gakkai's "political arm",{{cite book |last=Métraux |first=Daniel A. |title=The Soka Gakkai Revolution |publisher=University Press of America |year=1994 |location=Lanham |pages=42, 55}}{{Cite book |last=Corduan |first=Winfried |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yba83tvjvZEC&pg=PA479 |title=Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions |date=2012-10-22 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-3970-4 |page=479 |language=en |quote=The Komeito severed its organizational ties to SG in 1970, but has nonetheless remaind the political arm of Sokka Gakkai in Japan}}{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7iLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=Buddhist Politics: Japan's Clean Government Party |date=2012-12-06 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-010-2996-4 |page=13 |language=en |quote=even today, the Clean Government Party can hardly be called more than the "political arm" of Soka Gakkai}}{{cite news |last1= Rich |first1= Motoko |last2= Notoya |first2= Kiuko |last3= Ueno|first3= Hisako | date= 2024-10-26 |title= For First Time in Decades, Japan Votes in a Knife-Edge Election |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/world/asia/japan-election.html |work= The New York Times |location= New York, United States |quote = ...Komeito, a political affiliate of Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist sect. |access-date=2024-10-27}} however, and critics contend the relationship violates the separation of religion and politics enshrined in Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution.{{cite journal |last=Okuyama |first=Michiaki |date=Spring 2010 |title=Soka Gakkai As a Challenge to Japanese Society and Politics |url=http://www.politicsandreligionjournal.com/images/pdf_files/srpski/godina4_broj1/6%20-%20okuyama%20michiaki.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Politics and Religion |volume=IV |issue=1 |page=84 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226023948/http://www.politicsandreligionjournal.com/images/pdf_files/srpski/godina4_broj1/6%20-%20okuyama%20michiaki.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-26 |quote=After its religious orientation was criticized by journalists and questioned in the Diet around 1970, Komeito declared that it would follow the constitutional principle of the separation between religion and state, officially separating Soka Gakkai and Komeito. But this issue continues even today as one of the targets of criticism against Soka Gakkai and Komeito.}} The leadership and financing of the two groups are currently said to be independent.{{rp|123–27}} Both groups report having occasional liaison meetings, characterizing them as informational and "open to the media".{{cite report |title=Soka Gakkai Annual Report 2015 |date=1 February 2015 |publisher=Soka Gakkai Public Relations Office |page=72 |quote=協議会では、公明党から、党の方針、態度、決定等について説明があり、それに対して学会が意見、要望を述べる。[At the council, Komeito explains the party's policies, attitudes, decisions, etc., and the Gakkai gives opinions and requests.]}} Numerous Japanese religious groups have established political parties in Japan, but statistics scholar Petter Lindgren states that "None have, however, been more successful than Soka Gakkai."{{cite journal |last1=Lindgren |first1=Petter Y. |date=2016 |title=Komeito's security ideals and collective self-defense: betwixt pacifism and compromises |journal=East Asia |volume=33 |issue=3 |page=235 |doi=10.1007/s12140-016-9256-8 |s2cid=148386681}}

Domestically, the party proposals include reduction of the central government and bureaucracy, increased transparency in public affairs, and increased local (prefectural) autonomy with the private sector playing an increased role. Komeito also supports reducing the consumption tax rate, reducing school fees and offering child allowances.{{Cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Tobias |last2=McLaughlin |first2=Levi |date=4 November 2021 |title=The Small Pacifist Party That Could Shape Japan's Future |work=Foreign Policy |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/04/komeito-ldp-japan-elections-defense-policy-china/ |access-date=22 October 2023}}

In accordance with its public affairs transparency platform, it was reported that since September 2016, the Komeito conducted independent analyses for possible environmental contamination of the proposed Toyosu market site.{{cite news |date=16 September 2016 |title=Tokyo gov't investigating underground water at Toyosu fish market site |publisher=GPlusMedia Inc. |agency=Japan Today |url=https://japantoday.com/category/national/tokyo-govt-investigating-underground-water-at-toyosu-fish-market |access-date=19 October 2017}} The Komeito officially raised its environmental concerns later regarding Toyosu market during the 5 October 2016 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Session. In response, the newly appointed Tokyo Governor, Yuriko Koike, cited possible disciplinary action towards those responsible for the Toyosu project.{{cite news |date=6 October 2016 |title=Koike vows to punish officials who botched Toyosu market |publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company |url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201610060075.html |url-status=dead |access-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019163111/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201610060075.html |archive-date=19 October 2017}}

Komeito embraces market liberalism to some extent, but it also emphasizes social welfare,{{Cite web|title=The hidden power of Komeito on Japanese politics|url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/12/03/the-hidden-power-of-komeito-on-japanese-politics/|date=3 December 2021|access-date=26 January 2022|quote=Observers can expect Kishida to avoid difficult debates over security policy, expand social welfare spending, and consider only limited social reforms to satisfy Komeito.|publisher=East Asia Forum}} and officially puts forward "Humanitarian socialism" as its main ideology.{{cite web |last1=三訂版,世界大百科事典内言及 |first1=デジタル大辞泉,精選版 日本国語大辞典,日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),改訂新版 世界大百科事典,百科事典マイペディア,ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,知恵蔵,山川 日本史小辞典 改訂新版,旺文社日本史事典 |title=公明党(コウメイトウ)とは？ 意味や使い方 |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%85%AC%E6%98%8E%E5%85%9A-63237#E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC.E5.A4.A7.E7.99.BE.E7.A7.91.E5.85.A8.E6.9B.B8.28.E3.83.8B.E3.83.83.E3.83.9D.E3.83.8B.E3.82.AB.29 |website=コトバンク |access-date=30 May 2024 |language=ja |quote=創価学会を支持母体とした中道政党。人間性社会主義の実現を掲げている。 ［藤井　正・五十嵐仁］}}

In contrast with the LDP, Komeito has generally been more cautious about efforts to expand the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).{{Cite news |last=Ryall |first=Julian |date=29 October 2021 |title=Tricky Tokyo-Beijing relations weigh on Japan's political parties as Kishida seeks mandate in lower house election |work=South China Morning Post |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3154049/tricky-tokyo-beijing-relations-weigh-japans-political-parties |access-date=7 August 2022}} At its founding, the party adhered to absolute pacifism, rejecting both the constitutionality of the JSDF and the military alliance with the US. Softening its views later, Komeito backed LDP proposals, such as a 2004 vote to dispatch the JSDF to support allied operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and prime minister Shinzo Abe's revision of the security laws to expand military powers in July 2015, although it did manage to moderate the policy on the latter.{{cite journal |last1=Mette Fisker-Nielsen |first1=Anne |date=November 1, 2016 |title=Has Komeito Abandoned its Principles? Public Perception of the Party's Role in Japan's Security Legislation Debate |url=http://apjjf.org/2016/21/Fisker-Nielsen.html |journal=The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=14 |issue=21, #3}}

With regard to foreign policy, the Komeito wishes to eliminate nuclear arms and Japanese involvement in armed conflict in general. Komeito supports maintaining the Japan's military alliance with the United States.

The party promotes closer relations between China and Japan. According to a Foreign Policy article in 2021, "Of all parties in the Diet, Komeito enjoys the strongest and most stable relationship with China." Komeito's then leader Yoshikatsu Takeiri's held negotiations Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in the 1970s played a critical role in the eventual normalization of relations between the People's Republic of China and Japan in 1972. The party has advocated for friendlier policies towards China, and has maintained communications with the country even during moments when the relationships between the two countries have been strained.

The party reportedly advocates for improved ties with China and South Korea in light of Japan's historical war crimes in both territories. In 2013, the party's chief representative Natsuo Yamaguchi praised Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision not to visit Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war criminals are enshrined.{{Cite web |title=Yamaguchi: PM Abe true to previous administrations on war, 'comfort women' {{!}} Komei News (October 19 , 2013) |url=https://www.komei.or.jp/en/news/detail/20131019_12477 |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Komeito |language=en}} On the comfort women issue, in 2016 the party reportedly advocated for removing Yoshitaka Sakurada from a leadership position after Sakurada denied that the women were forced to work.{{Cite news |date=2016-01-15 |title=Politicians react to LDP legislator's remark that 'comfort women' were prostitutes |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160115/p2a/00m/0na/009000c |access-date=2024-06-24 |work=Mainichi Daily News |language=en}}

The party organ of Komeito is the Komei Shinbun. It is published by the Komei Organ Paper Committee,{{cite web |title=公明 (Komei) |url=https://ndlopac.ndl.go.jp/F/?func=find-c&ccl_term=001%20%3D%20000008101200&adjacent=N&x=0&y=0&con_lng=jpn |access-date=2 July 2016 |website=NDL-OPAC (National Diet Library – Online Public Access Catalog) |publisher=National Diet Library of Japan}}{{cite book |title=公明新聞. Kōmei shinbun. |publisher=OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. |oclc=45443281}} and has also published a regional Hokkaido edition in the past.{{cite web|url=http://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000098265-00 |title=公明新聞 北海道版 |website=NDL Search |publisher=National Diet Library [of Japan] |year=1996 |edition=Komei Shinbun – Hokkaido |access-date=2 July 2016}}

{{See also|Chief Representative of Komeito}}

Leadership as of 9 November 2024:{{cite web |url=https://www.komei.or.jp/about/board/jonin_yakuinkai/ |title=常任役員会 |website=Komeito |language=Japanese |access-date=11 November 2024 }}

• Politics of Japan

• Ehrhardt, George, Axel Klein, Levi McLaughlin and Steven R. Reed (2014) (Eds.): Kōmeitō – Politics and Religion in Japan. Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
• {{Citation |first=Anne Mette |last=Fisker-Nielsen |title=Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan: Soka Gakkai Youth and Komeito |publisher=Routledge |year=2012}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.komei.or.jp/ Komeito official website]
• [http://www.komei.or.jp/en/ Komeito official English website]

{{Komeito}}

{{Japan political parties}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1998 establishments in Japan

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Category:Political parties established in 1998

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