‘Japanese First’ party emerges as election force with tough immigration talk
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Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaking to the media on the day of the Upper House election in Japan, on July 20.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Sanseito, a far-right party, gained significant ground in Japan's upper house election by campaigning against immigration and globalism, advocating a "Japanese First" policy.
- Led by Sohei Kamiya, Sanseito capitalised on public concerns about the economy, rising prices, and immigration, appealing to voters frustrated with the mainstream political establishment.
- Sanseito plans to build alliances with other small parties, aiming to influence policy and shift Japan's politics further to the right, using online presence to attack establishment.
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TOKYO – The fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan’s Upper House election on July 20, gaining support with warnings of a “silent invasion” of immigrants, and pledges for tax cuts and welfare spending.
Birthed on YouTube during the Covid-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the party broke into mainstream politics with its “Japanese First” campaign.
Sanseito bagged 14 seats in Japan’s Upper House, a dramatic increase from the single seat it had secured in the 248-seat Chamber three years ago.
It has only three seats in the more powerful Lower House.
“The phrase ‘Japanese First’ was meant to express rebuilding Japanese people’s livelihoods by resisting globalism. I am not saying that we should completely ban foreigners or that every foreigner should get out of Japan,” Mr Sohei Kamiya, the party’s 47-year-old leader, said in an interview with local broadcaster Nippon Television after the election.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito will most likely lose their majority
“Sanseito has become the talk of the town, and particularly here in America, because of the whole populist and anti-foreign sentiment. It’s more of a weakness of the LDP and Ishiba than anything else,” said Mr Joshua Walker, head of US non-profit organisation Japan Society.
In polling ahead of the July 20 election, 29 per cent of voters told NHK that social security and a declining birth rate were their biggest concerns. A total of 28 per cent said they worried about rising rice prices, which have doubled in the past year. Immigration was in joint fifth place, with 7 per cent of respondents pointing to it.
“We were criticised as being xenophobic and discriminatory. The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right,” Mr Kamiya said.
His message resonated with voters frustrated with a weak economy and currency that have lured tourists in record numbers in recent years, further driving up prices, which Japanese can ill afford, political analysts say.
Japan’s fast-ageing society has also seen foreign-born residents hit a record of about 3.8 million in 2024, though that is just 3 per cent of the total population, a fraction of the corresponding proportion in the US and Europe.
Inspired by Trump
Mr Kamiya, a former supermarket manager and English teacher, told Reuters before the election that he had drawn inspiration from US President Donald Trump’s “bold political style”.
He has also drawn comparisons with Germany’s AfD and Britain’s Reform UK, although right-wing populist policies have yet to take root in Japan as they have in Europe and the US.
Post-election, Mr Kamiya said he plans to follow the example of Europe’s emerging populist parties by building alliances with other small parties rather than work with an LDP administration, which has ruled for most of Japan’s post-war history.
Sanseito’s focus on immigration has already shifted Japan’s politics to the right. Just days before the vote, Mr Ishiba’s administration announced a new government task force to fight “crimes and disorderly conduct” by foreign nationals, and his party has promised a target of “zero illegal foreigners”.
Mr Kamiya, who won Sanseito’s first seat in 2022 after gaining notoriety for appearing to call for Japan’s emperor to take concubines, has tried to tone down some controversial ideas embraced by the party.
However, during the campaign, Mr Kamiya faced a backlash for branding gender equality policies a mistake that encourages women to work and keeps them from having children.
To soften what he said was his “hot-blooded” image and to broaden support beyond the men in their 20s and 30s who form the core of Sanseito’s support, Mr Kamiya fielded a raft of female candidates on July 20. They included the single-named singer Saya, who clinched a seat in Tokyo.
Like other opposition parties, Sanseito called for tax cuts and an increase in child benefits, policies that led investors to fret about Japan’s fiscal health and massive debt pile, but unlike them, it has a far bigger online presence from where it can attack Japan’s political establishment.
Its YouTube channel has 400,000 followers, more than any other party on the platform and three times that of the LDP, according to socialcounts.org.
Sanseito’s Upper House breakthrough, Mr Kamiya said, is just the beginning.
“We are gradually increasing our numbers and living up to people’s expectations. By building a solid organisation and securing 50 or 60 seats, I believe our policies will finally become reality,” he said.
REUTERS
