The Rising Force of Japan's Ultra-Nationalist, Anti-Immigration Sanseito Party

The Diplomat

4 days ago

What began as a fringe movement is now gaining traction, driven by voter dissatisfaction with mainstream political parties and a strong online following.
'Japan First' is the signature slogan of the controversial Sanseito party, which is becoming a serious choice for voters ahead of this month's upper house election.
The party, which launched on YouTube in 2020 as a fringe political movement promoting a conservative stance on economic security and immigration, is gaining momentum among social media savvy men in the 30s to 50s age bracket.
The self-described 'party for citizens' now polls ahead of many established opposition parties in the run-up to the upper house election on July 20.
Its core policies call for the preservation of traditional culture, the revival of the 'true Japanese spirit,' anti-globalization and agricultural self-sufficiency. This includes opposition to vaccines, LGBT rights, immigration and nuclear power.
Currently, it boasts five lawmakers in the National Diet, mostly through lawmakers and independents who have changed their affiliation and joined Sanseito after the 2022 upper house election.
For the 2025 election, the party is fielding candidates nationwide, galvanizing support with anti-establishment slogans. The party presents itself as an alternative to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-Komeito coalition. Sanseito aims to secure six seats in the upcoming election.
As campaigning intensifies, the party has sought to clarify its position on foreigners and immigration amid criticism it is normalizing xenophobia in Japan. Kamiya Sohei, who now leads the party, addressed foreign reporters at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan on Thursday, July 3.
At the press conference, Kamiya reiterated the party's hardline stance on immigration but framed the issue as a matter of national protection rather than cultural exchange. He said Japan needs tougher policing and regulation if it continues to accept more foreigners, citing concerns that foreigners have a tendency to exploit legal loopholes and commit crimes. In particular, he voiced concern about migrants who leave their assigned workplaces due to poor conditions and then turn to pickpocketing, petty theft, or organized crime to survive.
'We are not in any way intending to exclude foreign workers who are here legally, who are working legally side by side with the Japanese, with jobs,' he clarified.
On the issue of falling birthrates, Kamiya described demographic shifts as a manageable trend, rather than a national crisis. He shared Sanseito's vision of Japan as a trailblazer in human-centered technological innovation to offset its dependence on foreign labor. The party advocates for robotics, automation and AI in sectors like elder care, healthcare, and agriculture — areas hit hardest by workforce shortages.
Kamiya stressed that the party opposes accepting migrants in order to substitute the projected fall in the Japanese workforce. He said the aim was to prevent cases where workers are recruited under false pretenses by brokers and end up in low-paid, exploitative jobs abroad.
Sanseito has placed agriculture at the heart of its politics. It's framed not only as a food issue but as a matter of national resilience and cultural identity. The party has proposed a 10 trillion yen investment over the next decade to double Japan's food self-sufficiency rate.
At 38 percent, Japan's food self-sufficiency rate ranks among the lowest in the OECD. Sanseito aims to establish year-long emergency food reserves in every municipality by 2030. It argues that true sovereignty requires the ability to feed the population without dependence on foreign imports.
Sanseito also seeks to reclassify farmers as public-sector workers, expand organic farming, and integrate traditional cuisine into school lunch programs. The effort is part policy and part narrative, positioning farming not just as economic activity but as moral duty and the essence of what it means to be Japanese.
The U.S. has made increased access to Japan's rice market a condition for any trade agreement. It's an ultimatum Tokyo continues to resist, insisting that rice remains off the negotiating table.
Kamiya warned that importing American rice would devastate Japan's domestic rice farmers. 'We do not believe U.S. rice should be imported into Japan,' he said, citing fears of collapse in the country's rice-farming sector.
He also criticized past trade concessions Japan had made, particularly in agriculture, to protect the auto industry, saying the time for these types of trade-offs had passed. 'Japanese agriculture is already at its limit,' Kamiya said.
In response to U.S. tariff threats, he called for a recalibration of the bilateral trade relationship, pointing out that Japanese consumers spend trillions of yen annually on American digital and IT products. Instead of yielding to U.S. pressure, he argued, Japan should offset automotive export losses by relaxing decarbonization rules and cutting domestic auto taxes to bolster internal demand.
Sanseito's rhetoric offers a glimpse into the tensions shaping the country's political future. The degree to which Sanseito's message translates from online support to votes on July 20 will determine whether it remains a digital phenomenon or becomes a durable force in Japanese politics.