Leader of the Opposition (Japan)

The  is the leader of the largest opposing party to the Japanese government. The role is not an official office.

### Leaders of the Opposition during the Shōwa period (1947–1989)

- _Under the Shōwa Emperor_
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|No. <small> (Terms) </small>|colspan="2" style="width:280px;"|Opposition Leader|colspan="3"|Term of office|style="width:300px;" rowspan="2"|Political Party|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||**Shigeru Yoshida** <span style="font-size:125%;">吉田 茂</span>|24 May 1947|15 October 1948||Liberal Party|||
||**Tetsu Katayama** <span style="font-size:125%;">片山 哲</span>|15 October 1948|16 January 1950||Socialist Party|||
||**Inejirō Asanuma** <span style="font-size:125%;">浅沼 稲次郎</span>|16 January 1950|19 January 1951||Socialist Party|||
||**Mosaburō Suzuki** <span style="font-size:125%;">鈴木 茂三郎 </span>|19 January 1951|18 January 1953||Socialist Party|||
||**Jōtarō Kawakami** <span style="font-size:125%;">河上 丈太郎</span>|18 January 1953|27 February 1955||Rightist Socialist Party|||
|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|**Mosaburō Suzuki** <span style="font-size:125%;">鈴木 茂三郎</span>|27 February 1955|13 October 1955||Leftist Socialist Party|
|13 October 1955|23 March 1960||Socialist Party|||||
||**Inejirō Asanuma** <span style="font-size:125%;">浅沼 稲次郎</span>|23 March 1960|12 October 1960||Socialist Party|||
||**Saburō Eda** <span style="font-size:125%;">江田 三郎</span>|12 October 1960|6 March 1961||Socialist Party|||
||**Jōtarō Kawakami** <span style="font-size:125%;">河上 丈太郎</span>|6 March 1961|6 May 1965||Socialist Party|||
||**Kouzou Sasaki** <span style="font-size:125%;">佐々木 更三</span>|6 May 1965|19 August 1967||Socialist Party|||
||**Seiichi Katsumata** <span style="font-size:125%;">勝間田 清一</span>|19 August 1967|4 October 1968||Socialist Party|||
||**Tomomi Narita** <span style="font-size:125%;">成田 知巳</span>|4 October 1968|26 September 1977||Socialist Party|||
||**Ichio Asukata** <span style="font-size:125%;">飛鳥田 一雄</span>|26 September 1977|7 September 1983||Socialist Party|||
||**Masashi Ishibashi** <span style="font-size:125%;">石橋 政嗣</span>|7 September 1983|8 September 1986||Socialist Party|||
||**Takako Doi** <span style="font-size:125%;">土井 たか子</span>|8 September 1986|7 January 1989||Socialist Party|||

### Leaders of the Opposition during the Heisei period (1989–2019)

- Under Emperor Akihito
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|No. <small> (Terms) </small>|colspan="2" style="width:280px;"|Opposition Leader|colspan="3"|Term of office|style="width:300px;" rowspan="2"|Political Party|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||**Takako Doi** <span style="font-size:125%;">土井 たか子</span>|8 January 1989|31 July 1991||Socialist Party|||||||
||**Makoto Tanabe** <span style="font-size:125%;">田邊 誠</span>|31 July 1991|19 January 1993||Socialist Party|||||||
||**Sadao Yamahana** <span style="font-size:125%;">山花 貞夫</span>|19 January 1993|9 August 1993||Socialist Party|||||||
||**Yōhei Kōno** <span style="font-size:125%;">河野 洋平</span>|9 August 1993|30 June 1994||Liberal Democratic Party|||||||
||**Toshiki Kaifu** <span style="font-size:125%;">海部 俊樹</span> <small>_Kaifu Toshiki_ (b. 1931)</small>|30 June 1994|28 December 1995||New Frontier Party|||||||
||**Ichirō Ozawa** <span style="font-size:125%;">小沢 一郎</span>|28 December 1995|31 December 1997||New Frontier Party|||||||
|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|**Naoto Kan** <span style="font-size:125%;">菅 直人</span>|rowspan="2"|31 December 1997|rowspan="2"|25 September 1999|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|Democratic Party (1996–1998)→ Democratic Party (1998–2016)|
||**Yukio Hatoyama** <span style="font-size:125%;">鳩山 由紀夫</span>|25 September 1999|10 December 2002||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
||**Naoto Kan** <span style="font-size:125%;">菅 直人</span>|10 December 2002|18 May 2004||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
||**Katsuya Okada** <span style="font-size:125%;">岡田 克也</span>|18 May 2004|17 September 2005||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
||**Seiji Maehara** <span style="font-size:125%;">前原 誠司</span>|17 September 2005|7 April 2006||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
||**Ichirō Ozawa** <span style="font-size:125%;">小沢 一郎</span>|7 April 2006|16 May 2009||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
||**Yukio Hatoyama** <span style="font-size:125%;">鳩山 由紀夫</span>|16 May 2009|16 September 2009||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
||**Masatoshi Wakabayashi** <span style="font-size:125%;">若林 正俊</span> <small>_(Acting)_</small>|16 September 2009|28 September 2009||Liberal Democratic Party|||||||
||**Sadakazu Tanigaki** <span style="font-size:125%;">谷垣 禎一</span>|28 September 2009|26 September 2012||Liberal Democratic Party|||||||
||**Shinzō Abe** <span style="font-size:125%;">安倍 晋三</span>|26 September 2012|26 December 2012||Liberal Democratic Party|||||||
||**Banri Kaieda** <span style="font-size:125%;">海江田 万里</span>|26 December 2012|14 December 2014||Democratic Party (1998–2016)|||||||
|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|**Katsuya Okada** <span style="font-size:125%;">岡田 克也</span>|rowspan="2"|14 December 2014|rowspan="2"|1 October 2016|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|Democratic Party (1998–2016)→ Democratic Party (2016–2018)|
||**Renhō** <span style="font-size:125%;">村田 蓮舫</span>|1 October 2016|27 July 2017||Democratic Party (2016–2018)|||||||
||**Seiji Maehara** <span style="font-size:125%;">前原 誠司</span>|1 September 2017|23 October 2017||Democratic Party (2016–2018)|||||||
||**Yukio Edano** <span style="font-size:125%;">枝野 幸男</span>|23 October 2017|30 April 2019||Constitutional Democratic Party (2017-2020)|||||||

### Leaders of the Opposition during the Reiwa period (2019–present)

- Under Emperor Naruhito
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|No. <small> (Terms) </small>|colspan="2" style="width:280px;"|Opposition Leader|colspan="3"|Term of office|style="width:300px;" rowspan="2"|Political Party|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||**Yukio Edano** <span style="font-size:125%;">枝野 幸男</span>|1 May 2019|30 November 2021||Constitutional Democratic Party (2017-2020)→ Constitutional Democratic Party|||
||**Kenta Izumi** <span style="font-size:125%;">泉 健太</span>|30 November 2021|23 September 2024||Constitutional Democratic Party|||
||**Yoshihiko Noda** <span style="font-size:125%;">野田 佳彦</span>|23 September 2024|Incumbent||Constitutional Democratic Party|||

## Infobox (political post)

- **post**: Leader of the Opposition of Japan
野党の指導者
- **style**: The Honourable
- **image**: File:Junya Ogawa 20250703 1 (cropped).jpg
- **incumbent**: Junya Ogawa
- **incumbentsince**: 13 February 2026
- **formation**: 24 May 1947
- **inaugural**: Shigeru Yoshida