Japan’s Sanseito party wins big with ‘Japanese First’ push and anti-immigration rhetoric.
Japan’s far-right Sanseito party has emerged as a major winner in the country’s upper house election, riding a wave of nationalist rhetoric, anti-immigration warnings and populist pledges on tax cuts and social welfare.
Once seen as a fringe movement born on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanseito was projected on Sunday by national broadcaster NHK to secure up to 22 seats in the 248-member chamber, dramatically expanding its presence beyond the single seat it held previously.
The party, which only holds three seats in the more powerful lower house, has broken into the political mainstream by capitalising on voter frustration over economic decline and rising living costs.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya, a 47-year-old former English teacher and supermarket manager, has been at the forefront of this shift. He has stirred controversy with conspiracy theories about vaccines and “globalist elites” and openly credits US President Donald Trump’s “bold political style” as inspiration.
According to an exit poll by local media, Japan’s governing coalition is likely to lose its majority in the upper house where it is forecast to secure 32 to 51 seats.
‘Japan First’ movement
In an interview with Nippon Television after the election, Kamiya defended his “Japanese First” slogan.
“The phrase was meant to express rebuilding Japanese people’s livelihoods by resisting globalism. I am not saying we should completely ban foreigners or that every foreigner should get out of Japan,” he said.
Despite his denial of xenophobia, Sanseito has built its platform on fears of a “silent invasion” by immigrants. Political analysts say this message resonates with many Japanese voters facing a stagnant economy and weakening yen, which has drawn record numbers of tourists and fuelled inflation.
Foreign residents in Japan reached a record 3.8 million last year, only about 3 percent of the population, but concerns about immigration remain present, even if not dominant.
NHK polling before the election showed just 7 percent of respondents cited immigration as their main concern. Far more voters expressed anxiety over the country’s declining birth rate and rising food prices, particularly rice, which has doubled in cost over the past year.
“The buzz around Sanseito, especially here in the United States, stems from its populist and anti-foreign message. But it’s also a reflection of the LDP’s [Liberal Democratic Party] weakness,” said Joshua Walker, president of the US-based Japan Society.
Still, right-wing populism remains a relatively new phenomenon in Japan. While Kamiya and his party draw comparisons with other far-right European groups such as Germany’s AfD and Reform UK, these ideologies have not yet gained the same level of traction in Japan as they have in the West.