Good Governance Party
political party in Japan from 23 January 1998-27 April 1998
The Good Governance Party (民政党, Minseitō) was a Japanese political party which was in existence for a short period in early 1998. It was a centrist, reformist party that merged with other parties in April 1998 to form the Democratic Party of Japan.
There was an earlier pre-war Minseitō party, the Rikken Minseitō, which existed from 1927 to 1940.
History
The Good Governance Party was composed of several smaller reformist groups that had emerged during the collapse of the large coalition New Frontier Party in 1996.
These groups were:
The Sun Party (太陽党, Taiyōtō), led by Tsutomu Hata,
The Voice of the People (国民の声, Kokumin no Koe) led by Michihiko Kano
The group of independents known as From Five (フロムファイブ, Furomu Faibu), led by Morihiro Hosokawa.
Shortly after uniting on January 23, 1998, the Good Governance Party merged with the previous Democratic Party of Japan (1996-1998) (民主党, Minshutō), the New Fraternity Party (新党友愛, Shintō-Yūai), and the Democratic Reform Party (民主改革連合, Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengō) to form the brand-new Democratic Party of Japan. Hata, Kano and Hosokawa all played important roles in the development of the DPJ as the largest opposition party in Japan.
The public source identifies “Good Governance Party” as political party in Japan from 23 January 1998-27 April 1998. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Good, Governance and Party.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Good Governance Party”, the useful work is to connect “political party in Japan from 23 January 1998-27 April 1998” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1474065. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998, 1927, 1940 and 1996.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Good Governance Party”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Good Governance Party primary sources, Good Governance Party archive and Good research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Good Governance Party”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Good Governance Party” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.