Okinawa Social Mass Party (沖縄社会大衆党, Okinawa Shakai Taishū-tō) is a local political partyinOkinawa, Japan. The party's name is abbreviated as Social Mass Party (社会大衆党, Shakai Taishū-tō)orShadai-tō (社大党). The party primarily adheres to social democracy.
The party was founded on 31 October 1950 during the US occupation of the region. On 29 April 1952, the party launched an Association for Promotion of Reversion to Japan, which initiated a signature campaign for the demand of reunification with Japan. The campaign gathered more than 199,000 signatures (72%+ of the eligible voters of Okinawa).[2] At the time, such a campaign was initiated by liberals/leftists, including Okinawa Social Mass Party and another local party called Okinawan People's Party (沖縄人民党, Okinawa Jinmin-tō).
After Okinawa's restoration to Japan in 1972, the latter party was merged into Japanese Communist Party. Okinawa Social Mass Party, on the other hand, did not join any mainland Japanese parties, and continues as a local party to this day.
The party has been influential as the leading left-of-centre party in the prefecture.
