League for the Establishment of a National Assembly

The League for the Establishment of a National Assembly (国会期成同盟, Kokkai Kisei Dōmei), later called the Great Japan Public Association of Volunteers for the Establishment of a National Assembly (大日本国会期成有志公会), was a Japanese political organization that played a central role during the Meiji period in the movement to establish a National Diet. It was also the forerunner of the Liberal Party.

In 1875 Taisuke Itagaki formed the Aikokusha in order to expand his Freedom and People's Rights Movement nationwide. However, because Itagaki was reinstated as a sangi in the Meiji government his Aikokusha soon dissolved on its own.

Three years later, in September 1878 the Aikokusha was revived and a conference was held. At its third conference held in November 1879 it was decided to engage in canvassing throughout Japan and collect signatures for a petition to establish a national assembly.

The fourth conference of the Aikokusha was held at Osaka's Kitafuku Pavilion on 15 March 1880. 114 people from 24 prefectures participated, including representatives from political associations unaffiliated with the Aikokusha, and about 87,000 signatures were collected together petitioning for the establishment of a national assembly. Kenkichi Kataoka was selected to chair the meeting with Yukizumi Nishiyama as co-chair. On 17 March they moved their meeting hall to Taiyu Temple and continued proceedings until 9 April.

At the conference it was decided to found the League for the Establishment of a National Assembly for enlarging and developing the organization. Thus, the fourth conference of the Aikokusha was rebranded as the first conference of the League for the Establishment of a National Assembly. A 19-point agreement was drawn up according to which the League resolved to set up a standing committee for the purpose of maintaining contact between the political associations of each region, to present their petition to the Emperor, to held another conference in November of the same year in the event that the Emperor did not accept their petition, and to not disband the League until a national assembly had come into being.

...
Wikipedia