The logic and development of the trend towards “nonmaterial” political affiliation in the midst of stagnation in the civil rights party movement in Meiji Japan

The present article is an attempt to shed light on the logic and development of a unique phenomenon characterizing the era of stagnation experienced by the Japanese civil rights（minken 民権）movement between 1883 and 85, by focusing on the behavior of political parties in Western Japan and the formation of political clubs（konshinkai 懇親会）there.<br> 　It was in 1883 that the first political club, the Kansai Konshinkai, was organized and convened under the leadership of the Jiyuto and Rikkenseito parties. By touting itself as a broad-based, non-partisan association, the Club was extremely successful in attracting a large membership from a majority of areas comprising the Kansai Region, thus bringing members of the four major political parties under one convivial roof. By transcending both party faction and regional politics, the Club aimed specifically at creating an unfettered sense of solidarity, by embracing people sharing common ideas on the broadest level and providing venues promoting continuing ties of camaraderie and sociability. It was by virtue of such characteristics that the Club presented the possibility for overcoming problems faced by the political party movement after the amendments made in 1882 to the 1880 Public Assembly Ordinance, geared to restricting political organizations: namely, the estrangement of regional-central relationships and the inter-party hostility generated in the wake of the movement to eradicate the proliferation of bogus parties.<br> 　Moreover, the Club as so constituted was much more than an association merely aimed at deepening friendship among its members, in its political organizational attributes based on a definitive statement of purpose and ideological stance.<br> 　That is to say, the Rikkenseito Party, which assumed leadership of the Club, regarded its political nature to be a “nonmaterial political association” of like minded people, in contrast to the political party per se with such “material” characteristics as party membership registers and strict bylaws. For the rest of the period in question, the Rikkenseito and its fellow travelers would form similar political clubs in not only the Kansai Region, but the Tohoku and Kyushu Regions as well, ultimately resulting in a long-term vision of a greater Japan regional network of “nonmaterial political association”.<br> 　It was in this way that a form of action, in which friendship and camaraderie were gradually proliferated, encompassed a logic in striking contrast to the turbulent incidents marking the time in question and won an entrenched amount of social support. Although conventionally characterized as an era of stagnation in party politics, the period should also be recognized as a time during which a unique movement arose enabling the possibility of the formation of bipartisan, consensus political organizations.