Party of Hope

(2017-2018), (2018-2021)

The Party of Hope was a national party formed in September 2017 from the regional party Tomin First no Kai (都民ファーストの会), founded by Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo, in January 2017. Following her success in the July 2016 gubernatorial election without official support from her former affiliation, the Literal Democratic Party (LDP), Governor Koike founded the regional party for the July 2017 metropolitan election, after which she stepped down as party head and formed the new national party for the October 2017 general election. Characterized as an anti-establishment conservative party, the Party of Hope involved prominent Diet members from the Democratic Party (民進党, DP) when the party was founded in September 2017.

Their platform supported constitutional revision for decentralized governance, shifting focus away from Tokyo towards greater autonomy for local regions. However, their stance on Article 9 remained ambiguous because of internal conflict over security issues. After a poor outcome in the October 2017 general election, Koike Yūichirō resigned and Tamaki took over. In May 2018, the Party of Hope split into two groups; the “conservatives” created a new organization under the original name, while the “liberals” founded the Democratic Party for the People (国民民主党) with the DP. 

The Party of Hope was reorganized by its remaining “conservatives" after the majority's secession in 2018. Since the split, its stance and policies are substantially different. They are in favor of constitutional revision, aiming to stipulate the status of the Self-Defense Forces in Article 9 and add a new clause to prescribe privacy rights. On their current website, the Party of Hope provides information about the party and their policies, activities, and members. They have also published clause drafts for Article 9 and privacy rights. After continuously losing its members, the party was dissolved in October 2021.