What is behind the rise of the 'Japanese First' far-right?

2 days ago 5

The founder and secretary general of Japan's nationalist Sanseito political party, 47-year-old Sohei Kamiya, was the single biggest winner in Sunday's election for the upper house of parliament.

Young, charismatic and keenly attentive to the grievances of millions of Japanese, Kamiya campaigned on promises of adhering to traditional values, encouraging national pride, tax cuts, greater defense spending and a raft of populist policies, all under the slogan of "Japanese First."

An unmistakable echo of US President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement, Kamiya similarly blames foreigners for many of Japan's woes.

The party has centered its messaging on a "silent invasion" by foreigners who want to take advantage of the nation's wealth but refuse to follow its customs and laws, as well as difficult and uncouth overseas tourists.

Kamiya's campaign clearly struck a nerve with Japanese who have become disaffected with the existing political parties.

Most notably the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been the nation's most influential party almost uninterrupted since 1955, has now suffered crushing defeats in elections for the two houses of parliament in the space of nine months.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of politics and international relations at Tokyo's Waseda University, told DW that Sanseito has been able to tap into public grievances with traditional political parties.

"People have been unhappy with all the problems that they face every day, and they just felt the LDP and the traditional parties are not listening to them," he said.

"Sanseito used social media extremely well in their campaign, delivering a clear and concise message to more young people than the mainstream parties are usually able to reach and convincing them that they have the answers," Shigemura added.

"Kamiya listened to what people said they wanted, said he supported their complaints and promised to solve their problems when he was elected. And lots of voters believed him," Shigemura said.

Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya delivers a campaign speech with orange banners

As in other parts of the world where far-right politics have resonated with voters, Japan has seen rising inflation and low wages put a strain on household budgets. Shigemura pointed out that Sansetio has been able to blame foreigners, employing a tactic that has worked elsewhere.

What are Sanseito's goals?

Sanseito was founded in 2020, emerging from a YouTube channel co-created by Kamiya that aimed to demonstrate how to create a political party from the ground up. The channel and the party grew in popularity by spreading misinformation about the COVID pandemic, including conspiracy theories about the pandemic's origins, and vaccine skepticism.

Kamiya was accused of antisemitism after the party published a book in 2022 claiming Jewish financiers were getting rich by inflaming fear over the coronavirus pandemic, and insisting Sanseito would not "sell Japan out to Jewish capital." Despite these inflammatory claims, he has denied having any prejudice against Jewish people.

The party's hostility to foreigners has been a recurring theme since its founding. Kamiya told a campaign meeting earlier this month that the media was criticizing some of the party's policies by calling them "stupid, foolish and Korean." The slur drew laughter from the crowd, but it was condemned by anti-racism groups.

Kamiya also wants to increase defense spending and rewrite the constitution to permit Japan's remilitarization. He also favors allowing the military to carry out preemptive strikes against an enemy if it is judged that a conflict is "inevitable," which runs counter to the present constitution.

Party members are also on record as saying that they believe Japan should have its own nuclear deterrent – a major diversion in public thinking for the only country to have had nuclear weapons used against it in wartime.

Kamiya sees China as a significant threat to the nation and is demanding a "stronger stance" against Beijing's increasingly expansionist policies in the region, while he has also said that sanctions on Russia should be relaxed.

Many of the party's social policies reflect conservative attitudes, with Sanseito firmly opposed to same-sex marriage and women being able to retain their maiden name after marriage on the grounds that this would "cause confusion."

Kamiya has also stated that young women are too focused on having a career and that it would be better if the nation returned to the days of women being in the home raising children.

Far-right upends Japan's politics

Sanseito won 14 seats in Sunday's election, up from a single seat in the 248-seat chamber before the vote. The LDP won 47 seats, down by 16 and short of the 50-seat target before the vote. Most importantly, the LDP lost its majority in the chamber and will have to negotiate with minority opposition parties to pass any legislation.

Shigeru Ishiba speaks post-election in Tokyo on July 20

And that could give Sanseito an outsized say in the nation's future political direction. The meteoric rise of Sanseito in the last five years, and its elevation as a result of Sunday's election to the third-largest opposition party in the Upper House, has inevitably caused some concern.

The left-leaning Asahi Shimbun newspaper declared in a front-page opinion article on Monday that it was "troubled" by the rise of xenophobia in Japan, adding it was unprecedented to have an election during which "fear of foreigners was so openly inflamed" and "discriminatory rhetoric was voiced with such blatant ease."

The editorial added that if Sanseito takes the same stance during parliamentary debate it is possible "rhetoric used to legitimize prejudice will gain broader acceptance in society, bolstered by the party's growing political influence."

In a press conference before the international media in Tokyo on July 3, Kamiya claimed that while the party's slogan would be "Japanese First," that does not mean that non-Japanese would not be welcome. He followed that by saying he admired the policies of Trump, the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen in France and the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

Political scientist Shigemura said that after the Sanseito election success, the impetus is on the party to deliver.

"I believe this could be the far right's high tide," he said.

"The LDP is at a low point but now these extremist parties have won enough seats to be able to claim that they are having a say in the running of the country, they have to deliver. The LDP knows that delivering on promises is the most difficult part of governing, and I expect Sanseito to fall short on their promises," he said.

"In five years, I expect the public to have become disappointed at the far right's broken promises and the LDP will have been able to rebuild itself and, hopefully, the country will be in a better position," he added.