Former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara on Tuesday launched a new conservative party with the aim of forming a "third force" to run in the next general elections.
The new party, named Taiyo no To (Party of the Sun), is jointly headed by Ishihara and Takeo Hiranuma, veteran lawmaker and leader of the Opposition Sunrise Party of Japan.
The conservative Sunrise Party's all five lawmakers, including Hiranuma, have joined the new party.
The formation of a new party is expected to re-write the political equations in Japan ahead of the looming House of Representatives election.
Before becoming Tokyo Governor in 1999, Ishihara was a lawmaker of the Liberal Democratic Party, and had served as a Cabinet Minister twice.
Ishihara has repeatedly said Japan needs a political realignment, and he has been in talks since last year on forming a new party with lawmakers including Hiranuma.
In April, Ishihara said he would drop the plan, and began touting an idea for the Tokyo metropolitan government to purchase the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea from their private Japanese owner.
After the Japanese government purchased the islands in September, Ishihara resumed moves to create a "third force" to rival the governing Democratic Party of Japan and the largest Opposition Liberal Democratic Party.
The 80-year-old outspoken politician stepped down as Tokyo Governor last month.
The Lower House election is scheduled to take place by next summer at the latest. But Opposition parties are pressing Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to call the election early. Noda had promised in August an early dissolution of the House in return for the Opposition support for the passage of the controversial consumption tax bill.
