'Japanese First' party emerges as election force with tough immigration talk

Reuters ^ | July 20, 20257:45 PM CDT | Tim Kelly and John Geddie

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Summary

• Sanseito, birthed on YouTube, makes election gains
• Party has also pledged tax cuts and welfare spending
• Leader says he wants to expand lower house presence

TOKYO, July 21 (Reuters) - The fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan's upper house election on Sunday, 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.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

The party won 14 seats adding to the single lawmaker it 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," 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 and its coalition partner Komeito lost their majority in the upper house, leaving them further beholden to opposition support following a lower house defeat in October.

"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 Joshua Walker, head of the U.S. non-profit Japan Society.

In polling ahead of Sunday's election, 29% of voters told NHK that social security and a declining birthrate were their biggest concern. A total of 28% said they worried about rising rice...

---

TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: japan; japanesefirst; sanseitoparty

[j.havenfarm]

Per the media, there are lots of “far right” parties around the world, but no far left ones

[rexthecat]

Japan desperately needs immigrants who are also taxpayers.

[montag813]

The world is getting interesting

[11th_VA]

A total of 28% said they worried about rising rice prices, which have doubled in the past year.

[Bayard]

They need to rethink their whole not starting families mentality.

Japan has an atrocious birth rate because no one there apparently values motherhood or having kids.

[EasySt]

“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.”

~~~~~~~

Says Reuters, mouthpiece for the cabal of global elites....

[Vigilanteman]

Lived in Japan 16 years and still have close friends and family there. Feminism child has helped implode the birthrate. Longtime family friend with two well educated sons married strong women who divorced them after one child.

Said they had other goals than raising children. Friend just lost her husband last year and envies the fact that I have six grandchildren to her two. She has friends who've had to settle for one or none. Same reasons.

[Williams]

It’s a lot more than that. They are under intense social and economic pressure. Faced with nothing but more stress, many opt out of family life. If you get married, the wife stays home to have kids and all your family, friends and neighbors want to know why don’t you have three jobs? Work involves being on call and exhausted at all times. Lots of overnight drinking and more work in the morning.

[MinorityRepublican]

The average tax burden in Japan is 35% while in USA it's 29%. But 40% of Japanese workers live in Tokyo/Osaka metro areas. Obviously, the cost of living is higher.

If they live in smaller towns, they'll be okay. But the jobs are not there.

[DeplorableTrumpSupporter]

The fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan's upper house...

Project much journalists? Ever say about Communism or Socialism as FAR LEFT?

[CapnJack]

“Japan desperately needs immigrants who are also taxpayers.”
You forgot the /sarc tag on your comment.

Because (illegal) immigration has worked out so well for Europe and the US.

[Lisbon1940]

They should just call it Japan First. I’m not learning Japanese.

[No.6]

Borrowing the only useful bit from a search and ignoring the slander from the left, Senseito is apparently “Party of Do it Yourself!!”

I heartily approve. Found (several pages in, love those search engines) this with facts: https://japan-forward.com/whos-afraid-of-sanseito-japans-new-conservative-party-and-its-policies/

[AndyTheBear]

Their population might also be suffering from the effects of Isekai summonings...if the documentaries on HiDive and Crunchyroll are accurate they often target the most capable young they have.

[poconopundit]

Thanks, No. 6. for your comment and pointing to the excellent article by Japan Forward explaining the goals of Sanseito, the "Japan First" party.

My wife (former Japanese national) and I have retired to Japan -- as long as the our legal alien status keeps being renewed.

Japan is a great country.  You would be hard-pressed to find a more hardworking, intelligent, fun-loving, and law-abiding people anywhere.  We play pickleball three times a week with our friends here.

I see foreigners on the local trains and in our mid-sized city north of Tokyo.  But the number of them feels like no more than 2% of the faces I see on the street.

In any case, actual citizenship is very hard to get for any foreigner, so foreigners stay until their work visa expires and go home — unless their papers are renewed.

There's been no "invasion" of illegals here like there has been in the USA, Canada, and Europe.  The government is very keen on screening the foreigners who they let in.

And our U.S. social security goes a long way here now that the exchange rate is 145 yen to the dollar.  I don't know the precise figures, but the Japanese Social Security system has a far lower payout than that of the U.S. -- probably due to the great wealth of American companies and the English language's lead in science and high tech fields is a big advantage for us.

Consider also the friction of living in a nation of massive earthquake, flooding, and typhoon hazards which add extra layers of costs.

Sounds to me like Japan's new "Do It Yourself" party is on the right track.  Its ideas are very Trumpian.  And I like what I read about their demand to change their Constitution to specifically state that the "people are sovereign" of their government.

When Trump visits Japan again, it might be good for him to meet with the leader of the "Japanese First" party to put more pressure on the LDP.

[linMcHlp]

bttt

[Liz]

Japan’s new “Do It Yourself” party is on the right track. Its ideas are very Trumpian. When Trump visits Japan again, it’d good for him to meet with the leader of the party to put more pressure on the LDP.

---

Great idea.....we should push it.

[vetvetdoug]

The Japanese are intelligent. They were incredulous when Obama was elected as they knew he was an impostor and communist.

[Candor7]

I agree with your assessment.

Change is coming to Japan.