 Shimpotō

The Shimpotō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu in March 1896, as a merger of the Rikken Kaishintō and minor political parties to offset a temporary alliance between Ōkuma's rival, Itō Hirobumi and the Liberal Party of Japan ("Jiyuto").In June 1898, the Shimpotō merged with the Jiyutō to form the Kenseitō.