Habatsu

Habatsu

Political factions within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan. Except for 11 months in 1993 and 1994, the Liberal Democratic Party was the ruling party of Japan constantly between 1955 and 2009, when it lost reelection to the Democratic Party. Because the LDP was effectively the only party in Japan for so long, habatsu functioned much like parties themselves; that is, they vied with each other for dominance within the LDP. However, habatsu largely centered on personality, rather than policy or ideology. Their influence has declined since the 1990s.