Ex-member, observer of Japan's Sanseito discuss essence of right-wing party
Sanseito made a significant leap in the House of Councillors election this July, in the year marking 80 years since the end of World War II. Among the seats contested this election, the party expanded from just one seat to 14 in constituency and proportional representation races, significantly boosting its influence just five years after its founding.
While Sanseito leader Kamiya, 47, is known for his beaming smile, two individuals who have closely watched the party over the years hold mixed feelings about its current standing: Kazuya, 37, a political YouTuber who named the party as a key member at the time of its founding, and Kuroneko Doraneko, a writer who has observed the party for more than three years.
Both of them maintain that Sanseito is a group of conservatives that has adopted conspiracy theories to expand its influence and can no longer shake off such an approach.
Kazuya recalls being surprised five years ago when he was present at a paid public lecture organized by the party as a staff member. "They were discussing conspiracy theories like 'international financial capital controls the world.' I wondered why they were telling such things to participants who paid a high fee."
Having worked closely with Kamiya for nearly eight years since 2013 and once shared the party's ideals, Kazuya left the group in January 2021. "More people in the party were talking about conspiracy theories, and I couldn't take it anymore," he reflects.
Kuroneko, on the other hand, grew interested in the party in the spring of 2022. He had been following cults and spiritual groups lacking scientific basis and found a similar atmosphere in Sanseito. "They dismiss any criticism against them as conspiracy theories. They interpreted it as 'forces that are inconvenienced by revelations of the truth are just trying to crush us,' making them invincible," he says.
Sanseito was formed in April 2020 with five staff members and 3,000 party members, with Kamiya at the center. Both Kazuya and Kuroneko agree that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic around that time helped the party attract people. Amid societal anxiety, narratives like "the coronavirus was artificially created," "vaccines are weapons" and "the Deep State controls the world" were rampant primarily online. "They raised the banner of 'working for Japan in a world dominated by the Deep State,' quickly attracting like-minded individuals," Kazuya explains.
Another striking feature of Sanseito is its prewar revisionist historical perspective. In September 2023, Kuroneko attended a political fundraising party for the party in Tokyo. Participants waved national flags, and patriotic songs played endlessly. Kamiya referred to the Pacific War as the "Greater East Asia War," claiming the war was a conspiracy by Western countries. On the last day of the recent upper house election campaign, at Shiba Park in Tokyo where Kamiya made his final stump speech, the audience enthusiastically waved national flags.
The party's unique constitutional proposal emphasizes respect for the "Imperial Rescript on Education," issued in the name of Emperor Meiji in 1890, and advocates for educational policies aligned with a totalitarian national view. Kazuya believes, "The party prioritizes education the most. Politics is just a means to that end."
Both Kazuya and Kuroneko point out that this worldview of the party was crafted by Kamiya. They claim that Sanseito equals Kamiya and that all party legislators and candidates joined out of admiration for him. Although the leader has reiterated his ambition to "hold the casting vote in the Diet," this shifted during the upper house race to "aiming to join the ruling coalition in the next House of Representatives election."
With its expanded influence in the upper chamber, the party can now submit bills on its own. As the party is in a position that can potentially affect the political situation, how will its relationship with other parties, which it has heretofore criticized, develop? Both Kazuya and Kuroneko agree that the party will likely reverse what it has said in the past at any time.
Will Kamiya's radical ideology hold the casting vote in policy decisions? This and other questions will come under the spotlight during the extraordinary Diet session to be convened again this fall.
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