7 days ago
Survey: Sanseito faithful a new breed of political animal in Japan
Backed by those who lean politically to the right and do not trust the government, Sanseito seemingly stormed out of nowhere to score a major upset in the July 20 Upper House election.
Its supporters are also avid users of YouTube and social media, which offer an alternative to traditional TV and newspaper coverage.
This picture of the party with its 'Japanese First' agenda emerged from a joint online survey by The Asahi Shimbun and Asako Miura, a social psychology professor at the University of Osaka.
The survey targeting eligible voters nationwide about online awareness has been conducted every month since February.
HOW THE DATA PLAYED OUT
For the latest findings, data from 1,961 respondents who answered where they would vote in the proportional representation districts on July 18, just before the Upper House election, was analyzed.
When asked to choose their perception of their political position on an 11-point scale from (0) 'left' to (10) 'right,' the average score for Sanseito supporters was 6.1.
Compared with supporters of the 10 major parties, Sanseito's were more 'right-leaning.' Their average score was not as high as the 7.0 average of Conservative Party of Japan supporters but was close to the 6.2 average for ruling Liberal Democratic Party supporters.
Despite this, distrust of the government among Sanseito supporters was strong.
When asked to choose from a scale of (1) 'I don't trust the government at all' to (5) 'I trust the government completely,' the average score for Sanseito supporters was 2.1.
This compared with an average score of 3.0 for supporters of the LDP as well as the 2.6 average score for supporters of junior coalition partner Komeito.
It was also below the average score of 2.4 for supporters of opposition Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), and the average score of 2.3 for supporters of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
SEEKING DRASTIC CHANGE
Trust in experts such as the police and university professors was also low among Sanseito supporters, indicating a high level of dissatisfaction with Japanese society.
Trust in the mass media was only 2.0 among Sanseito supporters, lower than the overall average of 2.3.
Perhaps reflecting this, Sanseito supporters sought information about the election from video-sharing sites such as YouTube, rather than from television or newspapers, more frequently than supporters of the other 10 parties.
Sanseito supporters also obtained information from social networking sites such as X, second only to supporters of the Conservative Party of Japan.
COMPLETE LACK OF TRUST
On the other hand, Sanseito supporters were second only to supporters of the Conservative Party of Japan in watching TV infrequently.
Sanseito supporters were more likely to agree with the statement that vaccination against infectious diseases such as COVID-19 'should not be recommended' and the sentiment that 'foreigners get preferential treatment' in the current social system.
In both cases, they ranked second in most likely to agree, after supporters of the Conservative Party of Japan.
Sanseito supporters were also more likely to agree with conspiracy theories, such as 'there are many very serious things going on in the world that are not known to the public' and 'there are secret organizations that exert a strong influence on political decisions.' Again, this trend was second only to that of supporters of the Conservative Party of Japan.
Given that conspiracy theories lack a factual basis, TV networks and newspapers rarely cover them.
The data analysis suggests that the supporters of Sanseito tended to obtain their information through YouTube and social networking sites, indicating deep-seated distrust of the mass media and the Establishment in general.
Compared with the previous online awareness surveys, the number of respondents who said they intended to vote for Sanseito in the proportional representation districts increased more than five-fold after May. Half of the increase came from the opposition Democratic Party for the People's support base.
CORE FAN BASE
An analysis of those who had already intended to vote for Sanseito in May showed that they were the most likely of the supporters of the 10 parties to be negative about vaccines, think foreigners have favored status and espouse conspiratorial views.
In short, Sanseito originally had a 'core' group of supporters, but as the party expanded it gathered many supporters from other parties such as DPP. As a result, the percentage of 'extreme' supporters may have decreased.
SOCIAL MEDIA FIX
In the survey, DPP supporters and Sanseito supporters share a similarity in that they harbor strong distrust of the mass media and the government and obtained a lot of information through video-sharing sites and social networking sites.
This may have made it easier for the DPP supporters to switch to Sanseito when the DPP was in disarray over the endorsement of its Upper House election candidates.
