Nippon Ishin no Kai
The is a conservative and right-wing populist political party in Japan. Formed as "Initiatives from Osaka" in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in the National Diet following the July 2016 House of Councillors election. The party advocates decentralization, federalism ("Dōshūsei"), free education, limited government, and neoliberalism. Arguing to remove defense spending limits, and standing with the Liberal Democratic Party on revising the constitution, the party gained conservative and right-wing support during the 2021 general election, primarily in Osaka. History. The  party was formed in October 2015 under the name by Osaka governor Ichirō Matsui and then-Osaka mayor Tōru Hashimoto after they and their supporters left the Japan Innovation Party. The Japanese name was the same as the Osaka Restoration Association, which was also formed by Hashimoto, but was differentiated by writing "Osaka" in hiragana () rather than in kanji (). The first major election contested by the party was the July 2016 House of Councillors election. The party performed well in the Kansai region, winning two of four seats in the Osaka at-large district and one of three seats in  the Hyogo at-large district. In the national PR block the party finished fifth with 5,153,584 votes (9.2%), which meant it won 4 of the 48 seats. The majority of its votes were again centred around Osaka; the party received the most votes in Osaka Prefecture (1,293,626; 34.9%) and was second behind the Liberal Democratic Party in Hyogo Prefecture (470,526; 19.5%). The gain in seats made the party the third-biggest opposition in the National Diet. However, after the election Matsui said the poor showing outside of Kansai was unacceptable for a national party, and that the party would adopt  a new name that did not include the word "Osaka" in an attempt to broaden its nationwide appeal. At a meeting on 23 August 2016, the party voted to change its name to but did not announce an official English name. Ideology, platform and policy. Views on the political position of Nippon Ishin no Kai have been varied. While it has been described as being neoliberal, conservative, right-wing populist, the party itself commits to reformism, regionalism and 'self-sustainability' in its party constitution. The party supports the amendment of the Japanese constitution, including the installation of a constitutional court , mandated free education, and increased devolution. The party has not made an official stance on neither supporting or opposing the amendment to Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which prohibits Japan from possessing an offensive military, however has pledged to partake in debate. Economically, the party supports increased economic liberalisation, including deregulation of the labour market and the streamlining of bureaucratic structure. Socially, the party supports the legalisation of same-sex marriage, and optional separate surnames for married couples. The party has recently been described as centrist and moderate, being perceived as such by the voter base, according to recent  public opinion polls. The party manifesto for the 2021 Japanese General election, dubbed "維新八策2021", containing 329 individual policy proposals, and included the following pledges :