TOKYO, Sept 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a huge big-tent, electoral machine that has governed the nation for all but four years since it began 70 years ago.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba decided to resign as the leader of the ruling party Sunday after recent election losses that deprived the conservative party of a legislative majority for the first time since 2009.

AFP looks at the history of the LDP, what it believes in and the reasons for its decades of success:

- What were its beginnings? -

The LDP began in 1955 as a merger between two conservative parties and governed constantly until 1993, overseeing a huge expansion of the economy and living standards.

During the Cold War, the United States -- which still has 54,000 troops in Japan -- channelled millions of dollars to the party as a bulwark against communism. During this time the smaller Japan Socialist Party served largely as a check on the government rather than aiming to win power itself.

In the process, the LDP attracted all kinds of special interests, including farming and business lobbies as well as religious groups -- resulting in multiple cases of corruption.

- What does the LDP believe in? -

Beneath the surface lurks fierce rivalry among factions, resulting in regular changes of leader -- 27 since 1955 -- which act as a substitute for changes in government.

All its leaders have been men, and only around 13 percent of its current MPs are women. In 2021 women were invited to attend key party meetings but they weren't allowed to speak.

The party has generally leaned towards big government spending, market-friendly economic policies, socially conservative values and a robust alliance with the United States.

But it is a large tent, grouping big-government advocates, political doves focused on economic growth and nationalists pushing traditional family values.

Rather than basing their actions on a certain ideology, the party has acted as voters tell it, analysts said.

LDP factions, despite their deep divisions, have chosen to stick together to stay in power.

- When did it lose power ? -

In 1993, the LDP was kicked out of power for the first time, after the dramatic bursting of Japan's 1980s asset bubble and a corruption scandal.

But the fragile coalition government of small groups including several LDP defectors didn't even last a year and the party was back in power in 1994.

In 2009, the LDP again lost power in a landslide, replaced for a chaotic three years by the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan.

The DPJ's policy failures and its clumsy response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster allowed the LDP under Shinzo Abe to return to power in late 2012.

- Why is the LDP popular? -

The LDP remains associated with the post-war economic miracle, especially among older voters in rural areas.

Japan's electoral system also favours the well-funded and well-organised LDP with a national network of supporters and special interests.

The system has prevented smaller parties from staying in government for an extended period of time.

- What has happened now? -

The LDP has been back in power since 2012 in coalition with Komeito, a moderate party backed by Buddhist group Soka Gakkai.

Ishiba won the LDP leadership around a year ago after voter discontent over inflation and a new scandal sank his predecessor Fumio Kishida.

Kishida, in power for three years, replaced Yoshihide Suga, who in turn succeeded Shinzo Abe, known for his nationalist views and "Abenomics".

After Abe's assassination in 2022, the LDP has faced intense public outrage on revelations that its members kept a slush fund and under-reported income from fundraisers.

The crisis is seen as a major factor for the LDP's recent election defeats.

Despite the LDP's falling popularity, the opposition bloc has remained divided and has failed to serve as an effective political alternative.