Sanseito, DPP sharply increase their presence in Upper House
Opposition party Sanseito, which espouses 'Japanese First' policies and spouts anti-immigrant rhetoric, made a strong showing in the July 20 Upper House election and seized 14 seats, galvanizing support among unaffiliated voters.
The party formed in 2020 won seven seats in urban electoral districts, including Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi and Fukuoka prefectures.
'We advocated 'Japanese First,' something that many people have routinely felt (important),' Saya, 43, who uses only one name, told supporters after her projected win in the Tokyo constituency. 'Many voters endorsed politics that values Japanese people.'
Sanseito, which had only one seat up for re-election, called for tax cuts and fiscal spending to stimulate the economy, among other policies.
'Our 'Japanese First' policies resonated with people suffering from many problems and troubles,' Junko Sugimoto, 47, who won a seat in the Aichi constituency, told supporters on July 20. 'That led to our victory.'
The party garnered the remaining seven seats in the proportional representation portion.
'We will focus on gaining a solid footing,' Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya told a TV Tokyo Corp. program on July 20 after the party's advances became clear.
A champion of tougher immigration controls, Sanseito has faced criticism and protests over its policies that have a discriminatory undertone.
Kamiya, for example, described policies promoting a gender-equal society as a mistake and said, 'Older women cannot bear children,' a remark that drew a storm of protest.
The party's campaign pledges also include making terminally ill patients cover all medical expenses for their life-prolonging treatments.
Asahi Shimbun exit polls indicate that many men who graduated from school in the so-called employment ice age voted for Sanseito in the proportional representation portion.
Sixty percent of those who voted for the party in the proportional representation portion were male. Those in their 40s and in their 50s accounted for 21 percent each.
Seventy-three percent of those who voted for the party in the proportional representation portion said they were influenced by posts on social media as well as video-sharing sites when deciding how to vote.
The percentage was larger than supporters of any other political party.
The Democratic Party for the People also sharply increased strength following its gains in the Lower House election in October.
The DPP garnered 17 seats, compared with its four up for re-election.
Together with five seats not up for grabs this year, the party now controls 22 seats, which enables it to submit a bill that requires a budget to the Diet on its own.
In the Tokyo constituency, where seven seats were contested, the two DPP candidates, Mayu Ushida, 40, and Yoshihiro Okumura, 31, both won seats.
'Our policies aimed at increasing take-home pay struck at the hearts of working-age generations,' Ushida said.
In the Lower House election, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito lost its majority.
The DPP has cooperated with the coalition on some issues, such as supporting the government's supplementary budget bill last year.
However, party leader Yuichiro Tamaki categorically denied any possibility of working with the Ishiba administration on a TV Asahi Corp. program on July 20.
'We will first see how politics within the ruling coalition will develop,' Tamaki said.
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