Ikōkai

The Ikōkai ( Japanese 為 公会 ) is a faction within the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chaired by Tarō Asō . It is often referred to as the Asō faction ( 麻 生 派 , Asō-ha ). With 13 seats in the lower house and two seats in the upper house (as of October 2007) it is currently one of the smallest factions in the LDP.

The Ikōkai was created in 2006 as the successor to the Taiyūkai ( 大勇 会 , also: Kōno group, Kōno faction) by Yōhei Kōno . When Shinzō Abe's successor was elected as party chairman in 2007, the Asō faction was the only faction that officially supported Tarō Asō. However, he received 132 votes from the LDP parliamentarians in the election; So it voted numerous members from other factions and unaffiliated MPs for Asō.