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Paper short abstract

This paper examines how young activists in Japan in the 1970s-80s pursued political autonomy through the small liberal party Kakushin Jiyū Renmei. It explores the concepts of participation within the party, shedding light on the tensions between postwar democracy and alternative politics.

Paper long abstract

　　This paper examines how young activists in 1970s and 1980s Japan sought to realize political autonomy through the establishment and operation of a small liberal party, the Kakushin Jiyū Renmei (Innovative Liberal Party). While existing scholarship on postwar Japan has increasingly focused on youth culture, subcultures, and media in the context of the expanding consumer society of the 1970s and 1980s, far less attention has been paid to how the political interests and cultural practices of young people became connected to party politics. By addressing this gap, the paper explores the relationship between youth culture, political participation, and institutional politics.

　　The analysis is based primarily on the magazine Hanashi no Tokushū (1965–1995), a subcultural and political publication closely associated with liberal youth activism. Drawing on articles, editorials, and political commentary in the magazine, the paper traces how young activists articulated dissatisfaction with existing political parties and social movement organizations and attempted to create an alternative political space through party formation. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which autonomy, independence, and participation were framed as core political values and translated into organizational practices and electoral strategies.

The paper further examines the role played by the Kakushin Jiyū Renmei within parliamentary politics, including its initial electoral success under the nationwide constituency system in the 1970s and the challenges it faced following changes to the electoral system in the early 1980s. It also analyzes internal transitions that emerged as party members increasingly emphasized less inclusive and aggressive discourse in Hanashi no Tokushū, a shift that coincided with the party’s fragmentation and eventual split in 1983.

By tracing these developments, this study raises a broader question: why did actors who were critical of postwar democracy and committed to autonomy and participation encounter difficulties within institutional politics, at times undermining the very values they sought to promote? The paper argues that this tension highlights the complex relationship between social consciousness and party politics in late postwar Japan and offers new insight into the limits of small-scale political experimentation within democratic institutions.