The faction of Saiwai-club (幸倶楽部派)
The faction of Saiwai-club was a union of medium and small parliamentary factions in the House of Peers (Japan) led by the Tea Party group from the late Meiji period to the early Showa period. It was a rival power against the 'Kenkyu-kai' (study group), which was the largest parliamentary group in the House of Peers.
Saiwai-club was a name of a building in Uchisaiwai-cho, Kojimachi Ward (present Chiyoda Ward) in which the office of the Tea Party was located. Some members of the House of Peers with the doctrine of superiority, who had a sense of crisis about the establishment of so-called Okuma-Itagaki cabinet in 1898, set up an independent group and maintained its office in the Saiwai-club building. On the other hand, the Tea Party group, which mainly consisted of the members of Aritomo YAMAGATA faction, also supported the doctrine of superiority, so there was no big difference between both groups. Therefore, in 1899 the cooperation between both groups advanced and in December of the same year the members of Mokuyo-kai (Thursday-group) and independents were invited to form a union with 70 members against party politics.
They called it 'Saiwai-club.'
Cooperating with the largest parliamentary group, Kenkyu-kai group, they attacked the 4th Ito Cabinet of Rikken seiyu-kai (a political party organized by Hirobumi ITO) and the Saionji Cabinet, but in the Taisho Period a sense of danger against expanding Kenkyu-kai arose, and furthermore, when the Hara Cabinet of the Seiyu Party (the abbreviated name for Rikken seiyu-kai) was established in 1918 and Kenkyu-kai group sent its members to the Cabinet, they sharpened their anti Kenkyu-kai group stance. When Kousei-kai group and Dosei-kai group were formed after the reorganization of parliamentary groups within the House of Peers in 1919, the Tea Party group, Kosei-kai group and Dosei-kai group based in Saiwai-club were combined and opposed Kenkyu-kai group and the Seiyu Party. It was called 'Saiwai sanpa' (three Saiwai groups). It was also called 'Saiwai yonpa (four Saiwai groups), Saiwai musanpa/Saiwai muyonpa' including an independent group which opposed the coalition of Kenkyu-kai group and the Hara Cabinet and left them. In the course of time, the faction of Saiwai-club gradually approached to Kensei-kai group, which opposed to the Seiyu Party in the Lower House. During the second pro-Constitution movement they attacked the Kiyoura Cabinet led by Kenkyu-kai group and campaigned to topple the government with three pro-Constitution factions.
However, when the Tea Party group formed Dowa-kai group with maverick in 1928 and Kosei-kai group pulled up its office from the Saiwai-club building in the same year, Saiwai-club went into liquidation and Showa-club group, which Koyu-club group joined, succeeded the role.