New Conservative Party (Japan)

The New Conservative Party (NCP) was the name of two now-defunct political parties in Japan with a common lineage.

The first incarnation of the party (, Hoshutō, ) was founded on April 3, 2000 by 20 lower house and 6 upper house defectors from the Liberal Party. This party was dissolved briefly and then re-established (as , Hoshu Shintō, ) on December 25, 2002 in order to accommodate defectors from the Democratic Party of Japan.

The party eventually merged with the Liberal Democratic Party after the 2003 election.

First New Conservative Party

In 2000, Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa decided to take his party out of its coalition with the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and go into opposition. However, some of his party members wanted to remain in the government, and thus defected to form the New Conservative Party.

Takeshi Noda had been favored to be founding president, but he opted to become the secretary-general. Toshiki Kaifu also declined the position, so Chikage Oogi, a former Takarazuka actress, was selected as party president.

The New Conservative Party became part of a three-party ruling coalition with the LDP and New Komeito. This incarnation of the party was dissolved on December 23, 2002. The new party took over the role of its predecessor in the LDP-led ruling coalition.