logo
Nostalgia and YouTube: Sanseito mines yearning for a lost Japan in election

Nostalgia and YouTube: Sanseito mines yearning for a lost Japan in election

Nikkei Asia18-07-2025
A smartphone displays a YouTube video of Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya giving a speech. The party has seen a surge in support ahead of the July 20 upper house election. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Rie Ishii and Ken Kobayashi)
RYOHTAROH SATOH
TOKYO -- The surge in support for right-wing Sanseito ahead of upper house elections on Sunday has caught mainstream Japanese political parties and media off guard with its unabashedly 'Japanese first' messaging.
The once fringe party has been criticized for conspiracy claims and rhetoric seen as xenophobic -- its website calls for stopping a "silent invasion" of Japan from abroad and limiting the number of foreign residents the country accepts.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Akazawa Says U.S. Promised to Fix Tariff Order to Avoid Double Duties
Akazawa Says U.S. Promised to Fix Tariff Order to Avoid Double Duties

Yomiuri Shimbun

time16 minutes ago

  • Yomiuri Shimbun

Akazawa Says U.S. Promised to Fix Tariff Order to Avoid Double Duties

TOKYO (Reuters) — The U.S. government on Thursday promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, Tokyo's trade negotiator said, after talks in Washington to fix what he called a 'regrettable' error. In those discussions in Washington, Ryosei Akazawa urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that an earlier agreed 15% levy on Japanese imports was not also stacked on goods that were already subject to higher tariffs. They explained they would amend the presidential order and in doing so also refund any portion of the duties collected since Aug 7, when President Donald Trump issued his tariff order, Akazawa said. Lutnick and Bessent said Trump would at the same time lower auto tariffs to 15% from 27.5%, in line with the agreement on trade reached by the two countries last month. The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the meetings with Akazawa. Much of the agreement Akazawa reached during his previous visit to Washington in July, when he met Trump, was never put into a signed document, creating confusion in Tokyo and concern that some Japanese companies could face far higher tariffs than anticipated. Japan 'will continue to maintain close communication with the U.S. side at various levels,' the government said in a statement, before Akazawa spoke.

U.S. promised to correct executive order for Japan tariffs, Japan says
U.S. promised to correct executive order for Japan tariffs, Japan says

Asahi Shimbun

timean hour ago

  • Asahi Shimbun

U.S. promised to correct executive order for Japan tariffs, Japan says

Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Thursday that his U.S. counterparts had promised to correct the executive order pertaining to Japan so that the 15% "reciprocal" tariffs would not be stacked. Speaking to reporters in Washington after his meetings with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Akazawa added that the U.S. side said any tariffs paid above the agreed 15% would be refunded retroactively. Japan has been seeking clarification, as a lack of written confirmation of the deal it struck with the U.S. last month has led to confusion over whether President Donald Trump's tariffs that took effect on Thursday will be stacked on top of existing levies. Akazawa held talks with Lutnick for three hours and Bessent for 30 minutes on Thursday U.S. time, the Japanese government said. In the meetings, Akazawa also urged the U.S. to issue a presidential order to lower auto tariffs on Japan, it said. Under last month's deal, the U.S. agreed to cut tariffs on Japanese car imports to 15% from levies totalling 27.5% previously but did not announce a timeframe for the change. Japan "will continue to maintain close communication with the U.S. side at various levels," the government said.

Japan PM Ishiba faces crucial test as party meets over election loss
Japan PM Ishiba faces crucial test as party meets over election loss

Kyodo News

timean hour ago

  • Kyodo News

Japan PM Ishiba faces crucial test as party meets over election loss

TOKYO - Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looks set to face fresh scrutiny and renewed calls to resign from members of his Liberal Democratic Party when it holds a key gathering on Friday over a national election loss. The plenary meeting of LDP lawmakers from both houses of parliament comes amid little sign that pressure on Ishiba is easing within the party, despite his pledge to stay on after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the House of Councillors on July 20. Calls for Ishiba to step down are growing within the LDP, but opinion polls by various media outlets show voters are evenly split on whether he should remain prime minister. In defending his decision to stay on, Ishiba has underlined the need to avoid a political vacuum and to ensure that a recently reached bilateral tariff agreement with the United States is fully implemented. Ahead of the imposition of a 15 percent "reciprocal" tariff on Japanese products by U.S. President Donald Trump, a divergence emerged between the longtime allies over how the rate would be applied, exposing the potential fragility of the unwritten agreement. While the plenary meeting of lawmakers could pile pressure on Ishiba, only party executives could call an early leadership election, as demanded by some members. Ishiba won the party's presidential election in late September and his three-year term as LDP chief is set to end in 2027. The ruling coalition of the LDP and the Komeito party lost its majority in the House of Reperesentives in a general election in October. The prime minister attended a more informal meeting of party members in late July at which most of those who expressed their views reportedly urged him to take responsibility for the election outcome and leave his post. The gathering, scheduled for two hours, lasted four and a half hours. Demands for Ishiba to step down have mainly come from lawmakers known to share the hawkish views of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated during a campaign speech in 2022. Some analysts have attributed the LDP's falling popularity to a slush funds scandal involving lawmakers from the faction formerly led by Abe. With the ruling coalition deprived of its majorities in both houses of parliament, it must rely on opposition support to secure Diet approval of bills and budgets. Ishiba has expressed his readiness to work more closely with opposition parties on contentious issues, including banning corporate donations -- a key LDP revenue source -- and finding new revenue streams to replace the provisional gasoline tax.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store