Rikken Teiseitō



The Rikken Teiseitō (立憲帝政党) was a short-lived conservative political party in the Meiji period Empire of Japan. It was also known as simply the Teiseitō.

History
The Teiseitō was founded in March 1882, by the editor of the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō, and a number of bureaucrats and conservative journalists as a political support group for the conservative Meiji oligarchy. The new party was supported by Itō Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru It advocated a constitutional monarchy with a constitution, to be eventually granted by Emperor Meiji, an electoral franchise based on adult male property holders and restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly. It viewed the populist political parties, especially the Rikken Kaishintō and the Jiyūtō as its main rivals. It was disbanded in September 1883.