Social Democratic Party (Japan)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Social Democratic Party ( Shakai Minshu-to, often abbreviated to Shamin-to; also known as the Social Democratic Party of Japan (abbreviated to SDPJ or SDP in English) is a leftist Japanese political party. It defines itself as a social democratic party.The party was founded in 1996 by the leftist legislators of defunct Japan Socialist Party (JSP), which was Japan's largest opposition party in the 55-year system. JSP enjoyed a short period of government participation from 1993 to 1994 and later formed a coalition government with LDP under JSP Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama from 1994 to 1996. After the electoral defeat in 1996, it lost moderate members to the Democratic Party of Japan in 1998. As of 2005, it has 12 representatives in both chambers.