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Canada News.Net
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Internet-driven Sanseito emerges as major player in Japanese elections
TOKYO, Japan: In a surprising turn in Japan's upper house elections, the fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners, securing 14 new seats. Known for its nationalist rhetoric and internet-driven rise, Sanseito capitalized on discontent over economic stagnation, rising prices, and immigration anxieties. The party now holds 15 seats in the 248-member upper house, having previously just one, and only three in the more powerful lower house. Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanseito gained popularity on YouTube by promoting vaccine conspiracy theories and narratives about global elite control. Its "Japanese First" slogan resonated with voters who feel left behind. The party's leader, 47-year-old Sohei Kamiya, clarified in a post-election interview that the slogan was not a call to expel foreigners but to resist globalization and restore the livelihoods of ordinary Japanese citizens. Sanseito's rise comes amid a steep decline for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito. The coalition failed to retain its upper house majority, winning just 47 seats instead of the 50 needed to preserve control. This follows their October loss in the lower house, leaving them in the minority in both chambers for the first time since the LDP's founding in 1955. The dual defeats have deepened Japan's political instability. Analysts say Sanseito's appeal lies more in voter disillusionment with the ruling coalition than in any broad ideological shift. "It's more a reflection of LDP weakness than Sanseito strength," said Joshua Walker of the U.S.-based Japan Society. Yet, the party's surge cannot be dismissed. While only 7% of voters cited immigration as their top concern in pre-election polls, Sanseito's anti-immigrant message struck a chord with voters worried about rising living costs and Japan's changing demographics. Japan's foreign-born population hit a record 3.8 million last year, just 3% of the total. But rising tourist numbers and a weakening yen have driven up prices, fueling economic frustration. Sanseito tapped into these grievances with calls for tax cuts, expanded welfare, and skepticism toward foreign influence. Its message, many observers note, reflects a growing online populist movement in Japan, inspired by global figures like Donald Trump and echoing the tactics of Europe's far-right. Kamiya, a former English teacher and supermarket manager, has tried to soften his image after gaining attention in 2022 for controversial remarks, including a bizarre suggestion about imperial concubines. During the campaign, he faced backlash for opposing gender equality policies, claiming they discourage childbirth. To counter his "hot-blooded" persona and broaden the party's base, he recruited several female candidates, including the singer Saya, who won a seat in Tokyo. Unlike traditional opposition parties, Sanseito commands a large and active online following. Its YouTube channel, with over 400,000 subscribers, vastly outpaces those of mainstream parties. This digital clout has enabled the party to bypass conventional media and directly target young male voters in their twenties and thirties, who form its core support base. The party's rise has already shifted Japan's political conversation. Just before the vote, the Ishiba government announced a new task force to tackle alleged crimes by foreign nationals and pledged a crackdown on undocumented immigrants—moves seen as a response to Sanseito's growing influence. Looking ahead, Kamiya plans to build alliances with other minor parties rather than cooperate with the LDP. He says Sanseito's success is only the beginning. "We are gradually increasing our numbers and living up to people's expectations. By building a solid organization and securing 50 or 60 seats, I believe our policies will finally become reality," he declared. Whether Sanseito's ascent marks a lasting shift or a populist blip remains to be seen, but its disruptive entry into Japanese politics is now undeniable.
The Standard
a day ago
- Politics
- The Standard
How a far-right 'Japanese First' party made big election gains
Sohei Kamiya, leader of the Sanseito party, speaks during an election campaign in Tosu, Saga prefecture, southwestern Japan, on July 12, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
Far-right Sanseito party wins shock electoral gains in Japan on anti-foreigner platform
Japan's prime minister has launched an office focused on fostering "harmonious coexistence" with foreign nationals as an ultra-conservative party rode a wave of anti-immigration sentiment to unexpected electoral success. In a shock to the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, previously fringe Sanseito won 14 seats in the 248-seat upper house on Sunday — becoming the fourth largest opposition party in parliament with its calls for a crackdown on "excessive acceptance of foreigners". Sanseito had proposed "loyalty checks" for foreigners, as well as the suspension of social services to foreign residents and strict limits for hiring them. The party's leader, Sohei Kamiya, recently told a rally that "under globalism, multinational companies have changed Japan's policies for their own purposes". Analysts say Sanseito's rise has exposed long-simmering public anxiety about rising costs, over-tourism, and a stagnant economy — all of which the party blames on foreigners. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week announced the establishment of an office within Japan's cabinet to manage an influx of foreigners needed to prop up the economy, which is affected by a rapidly aging population. While Japan needed to accept some degree of foreign workers and invite spending by tourists, Mr Ishiba said the behaviour of some foreigners was causing Japanese people to feel "anxiety and unfairness", according to public broadcaster NHK. The appeal of far-right politics was primarily driven by economic factors said Simon Avenell, a Japan expert at the Australian National University. "First and foremost, it's about people's wallets," Professor Avenell said. Japan's booming tourism sector is one of the few parts of the economy tracking well. A record 36.9 million foreign visitors arrived in 2024 — a 47 per cent jump from the previous year and higher than pre-COVID levels. "Tourists can afford to pay for an increase in price for a bowl of ramen while locals are struggling to buy a dozen eggs," Professor Avenell said. "Buses are full. Trains are crowded. Locals feel pushed out of their own space," he said. In polling, 29 per cent of voters told NHK that social security and a declining birthrate were their biggest concerns. The price of rice, which remains a staple of the Japanese diet, has doubled over the past year. In the face of economic anxiety, Sanseito's populist message has resonated with many Japanese voters. Sanseito was created in 2019, emerging from an ultranationalist YouTube channel. The party's "Japanese First" pitch is that the country is under cultural and economic threat from outsiders. Foreigners, they claim, are driving up prices, overcrowding cities, committing crimes and buying up Japanese land. "The requirement for aspiring candidates and party members to submit nationality information, ensuring they're 'pure Japanese,' is appealing," one Sanseito supporter told Japanese newspaper The Mainichi Shimbun last week. Almost 3.8 million foreign residents lived in Japan as of late 2024, just under 3 per cent of its total population. This is in stark contrast to other wealthy nations. Almost one-third of Australia's population was born overseas. But numbers of foreign residents have steadily climbed as Japan cautiously relaxed its immigration laws in recent years, for example by creating special visa categories to address labour shortages in nursing and construction. At the same time, tourism has exploded. Japan had already seen the arrival of 18 million tourists by May this year — and cities like Kyoto and Tokyo are feeling the strain. "The majority of Japanese citizens are not xenophobic," said Ryosuke Hanada, a Japanese citizen and PhD student at Macquarie University. "What they want is an adjustment of the rules applied to temporary residents." Mr Hanada said right-wing populism was feeding on real economic stress, visible demographic shifts, and a government that had, until now, avoided serious discussion about what integration or coexistence with foreigners might look like. Sanseito has capitalised on resentment over foreign access to public resources and property. "There are no restrictions on foreign land ownership in Japan," Mr Hanada said. "This causes the increase of property prices in the Tokyo metropolitan area." There are no publicly available records of the nationality of buyers in Japan, but one survey of housing developers by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp suggested that 20 per cent to 40 per cent of new apartments in central Tokyo were being purchased by foreigners. While some high-end properties in Tokyo or ski towns have seen foreign interest and inflated local prices, there's no widespread evidence that this is happening across the country. Foreign residents who stay over three months are automatically enrolled in Japan's national health insurance scheme and can apply for public housing, childcare and other social services. Nana Oishi, an associate professor in Japanese studies at the University of Melbourne, said many Japanese felt public resources should be "prioritised for struggling Japanese nationals". "These perceptions have contributed to the appeal of Sanseito's messaging," she said. And there's another layer: anxiety about global power shifts. With the Trump administration floating new US tariffs on Japanese exports, some voters feel the need to adopt a more self-protective stance. "There's this sense that, well, the Americans are looking after themselves … maybe we should too," said Professor Avenell. Sanseito's sharp rise has forced the Liberal Democratic Party, a centre-right party which has long dominated Japanese politics, to react. Professor Avenell said the government wasn't "prepared for the debate" yet moved quickly when anti-foreigner sentiment was reflected in the polls. "Whether the panel [to manage foreigners] does anything meaningful is still unclear, but the politics have shifted," he said. Some regions are already acting on over-tourism. Differential pricing — where foreigners pay more for attractions like temples or services — has been introduced in tourist hotspots. Other ideas, such as capping tourist numbers or restricting purchases in sensitive zones, have gained traction but face legal and economic hurdles. But Dr Oishi said despite over-tourism in cities like Kyoto, "most Japanese cities continue to welcome international tourists and foreign residents".
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
MAGA-style 'anti-globalist' politics arrives in Japan
TOKYO, July 23 — Populist ideals are gaining traction in Japan, spurred by right-wing politicians running rampant elsewhere railing against 'elitism', 'globalism' and immigration. While Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition lost its upper house majority in an election on Sunday, the 'Japanese first' Sanseito party, created only five years ago, increased its seats from two to 15. Sanseito's agenda comes straight from the copybook of right-wing movements such as US President Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again', the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Nigel Farage's Reform party in Britain. This includes 'stricter rules and limits' on immigration and foreign capital, opposition to 'globalism' and 'radical' gender policies, and a rethink on decarbonisation, vaccines and pesticide-free agriculture. Founded on YouTube, Sanseito will 'bring power back to the people', party leader Sohei Kamiya, a 47-year-old former teacher and supermarket manager, wrote in the Japan Times. Cheap labour Surveys have put immigration far down the list of voters' concerns, who are much more worried about inflation and the economy. But for Sanseito, the influx of newcomers into Japan—where the immigration its economy badly needs is far lower than in other developed countries—is to blame for a host of ills from crime to rising property prices to dangerous driving. 'It's fine if they visit as tourists, but if you take in more and more foreigners, saying they're cheap labour, then Japanese people's wages won't rise,' Kamiya said at a campaign. But he added: 'We are not exclusionary. We have never called to drive out foreigners.' Meanwhile online platforms have been flooded with disinformation, some of which Japanese fact-checking groups and the government have debunked. Some posts falsely claimed that foreigners leave almost $3 billion of medical bills unpaid a year, or that Chinese residents on welfare doubled in five years. At a Sanseito election rally in front of Tokyo's Shinagawa station, where orange T-shirted party workers handed out 'Stop destroying Japan!' flyers, one voter told AFP she was finally being heard. 'They put into words what I had been thinking about but couldn't put into words for many years,' said the 44-year-old IT worker on a precarious short-term contract. 'When foreigners go to university, the Japanese government provides subsidies to them, but when we were going to university, everyone had huge debts.' Moscow meddling? Russian bot accounts have been responsible for 'large-scale information manipulation', according to a much-read blog post by Ichiro Yamamoto from the Japan Institute of Law and Information Systems think-tank. This has been helped by artificial intelligence enabling better translation of material into Japanese. More understanding towards Russia—something which was long anathema for Japanese right-wingers—is also a theme for Kamiya. 'Russia's military invasion (of Ukraine) was of course bad, but there are forces in the United States that drove Russia into doing that,' Kamiya told AFP, denying he is 'pro-Russia'. He was forced during his campaign to deny receiving support from Moscow—which has been accused of backing similar parties in other countries—after a Sanseito candidate was interviewed by Russian state media. 'Zero illegals' As in other countries, the rise of Sanseito and its success has prompted the government to announce new immigration policies, and other parties to make promises during the election campaign. Ishiba's LDP proclaimed the goal of achieving 'zero illegal foreign nationals' and said the government will strengthen the management system for immigration and residency status. Eight NGOs issued a joint statement last week, since backed by over 1,000 groups, raising the alarm on 'rapidly spreading xenophobia'. 'The argument that 'foreigners are prioritised' is totally unfounded demagoguery,' the statement said. Hidehiro Yamamoto, politics and sociology professor at the University of Tsukuba, said that populism has not caught hold before because the LDP, unlike established parties elsewhere, has remained a 'catch-all party'. 'The LDP has taken care of lower middle-class residents in cities, farmers in the countryside, and small- and mid-sized companies,' Yamamoto said. And pointing to the rise and decline of other new parties in Japan in the past, he isn't sure Sanseito will last. 'You can't continue gaining support only with a temporary mood among the public,' Yamamoto said. — AFP
Mint
2 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
A populist party that began on YouTube helped disrupt Japan's ruling coalition
TOKYO—The surprising success story of Sunday's election in Japan was a political party born online during the pandemic that tapped into a wellspring of discontent over issues galvanizing voters worldwide: inflation, immigration and a political class dismissed as elitist and out of touch. Sanseito—which translates as the participate-in-politics party—is into organic farming and worshiping the Emperor, and isn't keen on vaccines or foreigners. It polled fourth in Sunday's parliamentary election, helping to deprive Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition of its majority in the Japanese Diet's upper house, an upset that complicates trade negotiations with the U.S. just days before sweeping new tariffs are due to come into force. The breakthrough marks yet another example of right-wing challenges to established political parties that have transformed politics in Europe and the U.S., such as Germany's AfD, Britain's Reform UK or Donald Trump's Make America Great Again movement. Just as those groups have drawn on angst over immigration, Sanseito's anti-foreigner rhetoric has found fertile ground in a country that is slowly opening up to newcomers to fill jobs in its rapidly aging society and where worries over surging tourism abound. 'There is frustration there and they profited from that frustration," said Tobias Harris, founder of Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Japan Foresight. Sanseito didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya has railed at shadowy globalists he says are keeping Japan down. Sanseito has its roots in a conservative YouTube channel started by its current secretary-general, a spiky-haired former teacher called Sohei Kamiya, and two other political junkies who have since left the party. Dissatisfied with Japan's political old guard, their channel was devoted to setting up a political party from scratch and Sanseito was founded in early 2020. Kamiya ran on a Sanseito ticket in 2022 in an upper house election, winning a seat that wasn't up for grabs this time around. Including Kamiya, Sanseito now has 15 lawmakers in the 248-member upper house and three in the 465-member lower house. That gives it some scope to put forward its own ideas as bills but no chance of seeing them pass without other parties' support. Sanseito advocates a bundle of policies similar to other right-wing populists, whose platforms are distinct from the free-market, small-government conservatism that dominated the electoral right for years. It supports expansionary fiscal policies including more spending on child care and tax cuts. In line with the pronatal policies of leaders such as Hungary's Viktor Orban, it wants women to be less career-focused and have more children. It also espouses antivaccine views that brought it to national attention during the Covid-19 pandemic and is hostile to chemical fertilizers, echoing some of the themes of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Make America Healthy Again program. Sanseito bemoans the fact that Japan imports food, saying its goal is for 100% self-sufficiency in food by 2050. In stump speeches, Kamiya frequently railed at shadowy globalists he says are keeping Japan down. The party wants to ditch Japan's pacifist constitution that was drafted largely by the U.S. in the wake of World War II, and create a new one that harks back to an earlier, more spiritual age when the Japanese emperor was the head of state and the focus of national reverence. Analysts say Sanseito's success in Sunday's vote owes much to two phenomena: immigration and inflation, as well as a general dissatisfaction with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the unpopular Ishiba, especially among right-leaning voters who feel the party has drifted too far from the conservatism of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Sanseito has pledged to limit immigration and curb the rights of foreigners living in Japan, whose numbers had grown to 3.5 million as of Feb. 1, according to Japan's statistics bureau, from 1.7 million a decade earlier. Such an increase, while small in terms of Japan's population of around 120 million, has been jarring for some Japanese, many of whom are also upset at high levels of tourism and foreign purchases pushing up real-estate prices, both of which Sanseito promised to rein in. Consumer prices in Japan, meantime, rose 3.3% year over year in June, outpacing wage growth and squeezing household incomes. After a long spell of low or no inflation, Japanese voters are extra sensitive to price increases, said David Boling, director of Japan and Asian trade at Eurasia Group, a consulting firm. The run-up in inflation after the pandemic proved fatal for incumbent governments in a run of elections around the world in 2024; in Japan the reckoning has just come a little later, he said. The question now is whether Sanseito can build on its gains and get a shot at real political power. It has only a marginal presence in the Japanese parliament's more-powerful lower house, and has shown little appetite to work with big parties to advance its agenda. Japan's political system frequently throws up new political groups that vanish quickly. 'New parties are cheap in Japan. They come and go," said Paul Sheard, an economist and author who followed Japan for years in senior positions at financial firms including S&P Global and Nomura. Still, he said Sanseito has identified a rich potential seam of voters who believe they aren't being catered to by the main parties, including a swath of younger, social-media savvy Japanese attracted to the party's do-it-yourself, antiestablishment ethos.
