Success and scandals: Japan's Liberal Democratic Party | International

TOKYO, Sept 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a huge big-tent, electoral machine that has governed the nation for all but four years since it began 70 years ago. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba decided to resign as the leader of the ruling party Sunday after recent election losses that deprived the conservative party of a legislative majority for the first time since 2009. AFP looks at the history of the LDP, what it believes in and the reasons for its decades of success: The LDP began in 1955 as a merger between two conservative parties and governed constantly until 1993, overseeing a huge expansion of the economy and living standards. During the Cold War, the United...