The Rikken Kakushinto (Constitutional Renovation Party) (立憲革新党)
The Rikken Kakushinto (Constitutional Renovation Party) was a political party in the middle of the Meiji period (May 9, 1894－February 24, 1896).
After the Domei Club (League Club) and the Doshi Club (Alliance Club) united, forty lawmakers of the House of Representatives, who were from the two clubs and affiliated with no party as well, formed the party. The Domei Club was an in-house faction that was formed on November 20, 1892, when the Rito (pro-government) lawmakers who were disappointed by the hanbatsu (domain clique) government defected from the Minto (anti-hanbatsu government political parties), while the Doshi Club was an in-house faction that was formed on December 5, 1893 by some members of the Liberal Party (in the Meiji period) who had left the party after protesting against the fact that despite improper acts perpetrated by Toru HOSHI, the speaker of the Lower House who was a member of the party, the party leadership maintained their stance in defending the speaker. However, in the 3rd general election of the members of the House of Representatives held shortly after that, the factions both lost seats, and as a result, they united to secure their position as the Minto. Initially, the Rikken Kakushinto belonged to the hard-line foreign policy factions to adopt the high prosperity of the imperial family and the enhancement of the national prestige as its slogan, and also primarily advocated the expansion of the rights of the people and the establishment of a responsible government system. The party conducted a campaign to criticize the second Ito Cabinet for having yielded to the Triple Intervention after the Sino-Japanese War. The main members were Masataka KUSUMOTO, Shigeto SUZUKI, Jun KAWASHIMA, Shiro SHIBA, Gitetsu (or Yoshiakira or Yoshitetsu) OHIGASHI, Yukimoto KUDO, Sumitaka HASEBA, Tomitoshi TAKETOMI and Yonosuke OSUGA.
Before the Rikken Kaishinto (Constitutional Reform Party) merged with several smaller nationalist parties to form the Shinpoto (Progressive Party [in the Meiji period]) (on March 1, 1896), the Rikken Kakushinto dissolved and then most of its lawmakers joined the Shimpoto.