Ryokufukai

A faction in the House of Councillors. It was formed on May 17, 1947 (Showa 22) by conservative independent members who were elected in the first House of Councillors election, led by Yamamoto Yuzo, Shimojo Yasumaro, and others. At the time of the first Diet convening, it had 93 members and was the largest faction in the House of Councillors. Matsudaira Tsuneo, the first President of the House of Councillors, also belonged to the Ryokufukai. It opposed the House of Councillors becoming a political party as its mission, and set out in its platform "politics based on love and justice" and "common welfare through the harmony of freedom and order," aiming for sensible behavior in accordance with the spirit of the new constitution. It also included many cultural figures such as Yamamoto, Tanaka Kotaro, and Sasa Hiroo, and sought to give the House of Councillors a professional representative character. However, because the group aligned itself with the Liberal Party on policy matters and took a quasi-ruling stance toward successive cabinets, it gradually lost its individuality, and members began to leave the group one after another, dropping sharply to 11 members in the June 1959 election. In January 1960, it changed its name to the House of Councillors Comrades Association, and as its membership had fallen to seven in the July 1962 election, Ichikawa Fusae and others formed the Independent Club and the Second House Club, but these were dissolved on June 2, 1965.

[Kenji Yoshida]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

参議院の院内会派。1947年（昭和22）5月17日、山本有三、下条康麿(やすまろ)らが中心となり第1回参議院選挙に当選した保守系無所属議員で結成。第一国会召集時に93名を擁し、参議院の最大会派であった。初代の参議院議長松平恒雄も緑風会所属である。参議院の使命としてその政党化に反対し、綱領に「愛と正義にもとづく政治」「自由と秩序の調和による共同福祉」などを掲げ、新憲法の精神にのっとった良識ある行動を目ざした。また山本や田中耕太郎、佐々弘雄など多くの文化人を擁し、参議院に職能代表的性格をもたせようとした。しかし政策面では自由党に同調し、歴代の内閣にも準与党的態度をとったためしだいに独自性が失われ、所属議員の脱会も相次ぎ、1959年6月の選挙では11名に激減した。1960年1月に参議院同志会と改称し、1962年7月の選挙で7名に減ったため市川房枝(ふさえ)らの無所属クラブと第二院クラブを結成したが、1965年6月2日解散した。

［吉田健二］

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