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New Komeito

Komeito
公明党

Kōmeitō
President Natsuo Yamaguchi
Secretary-General Yoshihisa Inoue
Councillors leader Yuichiro Uozumi
Founded 7 November 1998
Merger of Kōmeitō
New Peace Party
Reform Club
Headquarters 17 Minamimoto-machi, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0012, Japan
Ideology Political Buddhism
Conservatism
Social conservatism
Political position Centre-right
Colors none
Representatives
35 / 475
Councillors
25 / 242
Prefectural assembly members
209 / 2,725
Municipal assembly members
2,740 / 32,070
Website
www.komei.or.jp

Komeito (公明党 Kōmeitō?), formerly called New Komeito (abbreviated NKP), is a political party in Japan founded by members of the Nichiren Buddhist-based new religious movement Soka Gakkai.

New Komeito (the party's former name) was formed as a result of a merger between the historic Kōmeitō party and the New Peace Party on November 7, 1998. 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" or "fairness". The word "New" was not part of the Japanese name, but was used in English to distinguish the party from its predecessor. In September 2014 the party changed its English name from New Komeito back to Komeito.

After the 2012 general election, the party held 31 seats in the lower house and 19 seats in the upper house. The number of lower house seats increased to 35 after the 2014 general election and to 25 seats in the upper house after winning 14 in the 2016 general election.

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". 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. With regard to foreign policy, the Komeito wishes to eliminate nuclear arms and armed conflict in general. However, in July 2015, Komeito backed prime minister's Shinzo Abe push for expanded military powers although playing a moderating insider role in this development. While most NKP politicians and core supporters are Soka Gakkai members, the Komeito platform scarcely remarks on religious issues.


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