Kōchikai (宏池会, "Broad Pond Society") was a leading faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded by bureaucrat-turned-politician Hayato Ikeda in 1957.

The faction has produced five prime ministers (Ikeda, Masayoshi Ōhira, Zenkō Suzuki, Kiichi Miyazawa, and Fumio Kishida), two LDP presidents (Yōhei Kōno and Sadakazu Tanigaki), and a large number of cabinet officeholders.

"[9] Early members of the group tended to be bureaucrats or ex-bureaucrats drawn from the ranks of government ministries and included, in addition to Ikeda himself, Masayoshi Ōhira, Shigesaburō Maeo, Osamu Shimomura, Zentarō Kosaka, and Kiichi Miyazawa.

For example, when Shinzō Abe resigned from his first stint as prime minister in 2007, Kōchikai's support proved decisive in handing the premiership to Yasuo Fukuda instead of heavy favorite Tarō Asō.

[15][16] In December 2023, in light of a growing political funds scandal within the LDP, Kishida resigned as the head of Kōchikai and announced he will leave the faction while he serves as premier.

[18] By the political criteria of the LDP, which has embraced neoliberalism since the 1980s, Kōchikai is classified as one of the factions supporting welfare-friendly policies, in contrast to the economically liberal Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai.

[20] In terms of domestic policy, Kōchikai has tended to support moderate efforts to combat income inequality and expand or strengthen the social safety net in ways consistent with fostering economic growth.