Latest news with #Sohei Kamiya
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Sanseito's ‘Japanese First' gains traction amid concerns over immigration, economy
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. Advertisement 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 party won 14 seats, according to public broadcaster NHK, 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. Sanseito supporters during the party's election campaign tour at Shiba Park in Tokyo on Saturday. Photo: Reuters Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba 's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 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.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
‘Japanese First' party emerges as election force with tough immigration talk
TOKYO: 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. Public broadcaster NHK projected the party to win as many as 22 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 will likely lose 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 US non-profit Japan Society. In polling ahead of Sunday's election, 29 percent of voters told NHK that social security and a declining birthrate were their biggest concern. A total of 28 percent said they worried about rising rice prices, which have doubled in the past year. Immigration was in joint fifth place with 7 percent of respondents pointing to it. 'We were criticized as being xenophobic and discriminatory. The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right,' Kamiya said. Kamiya's message grabbed voters frustrated with a weak economy and currency that has lured tourists in record numbers in recent years, further driving up prices that Japanese can ill afford, political analysts say. Japan's fast-aging society has also seen foreign-born residents hit a record of about 3.8 million last year, though that is just 3 percent of the total population, a fraction of the corresponding proportion in the United States and Europe. Inspired by Trump Kamiya, a former supermarket manager and English teacher, told Reuters before the election that he had drawn inspiration from US President Donald Trump's 'bold political style.' He has also drawn comparisons with Germany's AfD and Reform UK although right-wing populist policies have yet to take root in Japan as they have in Europe and the United States. Post-election, Kamiya said he plans to follow the example of Europe's emerging populist parties by building alliances with other small parties rather than work with an LDP administration, which has ruled for most of Japan's postwar history. Sanseito's focus on immigration has already shifted Japan's politics to the right. Just days before the vote, Ishiba's administration announced a new government taskforce to fight 'crimes and disorderly conduct' by foreign nationals and his party has promised a target of 'zero illegal foreigners.' Kamiya, who won the party's first seat in 2022 after gaining notoriety for appearing to call for Japan's emperor to take concubines, has tried to tone down some controversial ideas formerly embraced by the party. During the campaign, Kamiya, however, faced a backlash for branding gender equality policies a mistake that encourage women to work and keep them from having children. To soften what he said was his 'hot-blooded' image and to broaden support beyond the men in their twenties and thirties that form the core of Sanseito's support, Kamiya fielded a raft of female candidates on Sunday. Those included the single-named singer Saya, who clinched a seat in Tokyo. Like other opposition parties Sanseito called for tax cuts and an increase in child benefits, policies that led investors to fret about Japan's fiscal health and massive debt pile, but unlike them it has a far bigger online presence from where it can attack Japan's political establishment. Its YouTube channel has 400,000 followers, more than any other party on the platform and three times that of the LDP, according to Sanseito's upper house breakthrough, Kamiya said, is just the beginning. 'We are gradually increasing our numbers and living up to people's expectations. By building a solid organization and securing 50 or 60 seats, I believe our policies will finally become reality,' he said.
CNA
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
'Japanese First' party emerges as election force with tough immigration talk
TOKYO: The fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan's upper house election on Sunday (Jul 20), 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. Public broadcaster NHK projected the party to win as many as 22 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 will likely lose 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 US non-profit Japan Society. In polling ahead of Sunday's election, 29 percent of voters told NHK that social security and a declining birthrate were their biggest concern. A total of 28 percent said they worried about rising rice prices, which have doubled in the past year. Immigration was in joint fifth place with 7 percent of respondents pointing to it. "We were criticized as being xenophobic and discriminatory. The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right," Kamiya said. Kamiya's message grabbed voters frustrated with a weak economy and currency that has lured tourists in record numbers in recent years, further driving up prices that Japanese can ill afford, political analysts say. Japan's fast-ageing society has also seen foreign-born residents hit a record of about 3.8 million last year, though that is just 3 percent of the total population, a fraction of the corresponding proportion in the United States and Europe. INSPIRED BY TRUMP Kamiya, a former supermarket manager and English teacher, told Reuters before the election that he had drawn inspiration from US President Donald Trump's "bold political style". He has also drawn comparisons with Germany's AfD and Reform UK although right-wing populist policies have yet to take root in Japan as they have in Europe and the United States. Post-election, Kamiya said he plans to follow the example of Europe's emerging populist parties by building alliances with other small parties rather than work with an LDP administration, which has ruled for most of Japan's postwar history. Sanseito's focus on immigration has already shifted Japan's politics to the right. Just days before the vote, Ishiba's administration announced a new government taskforce to fight "crimes and disorderly conduct" by foreign nationals and his party has promised a target of "zero illegal foreigners". Kamiya, who won the party's first seat in 2022 after gaining notoriety for appearing to call for Japan's emperor to take concubines, has tried to tone down some controversial ideas formerly embraced by the party. During the campaign, Kamiya, however, faced a backlash for branding gender equality policies a mistake that encourage women to work and keep them from having children. To soften what he said was his "hot-blooded" image and to broaden support beyond the men in their twenties and thirties that form the core of Sanseito's support, Kamiya fielded a raft of female candidates on Sunday. Those included the single-named singer Saya, who clinched a seat in Tokyo. Like other opposition parties Sanseito called for tax cuts and an increase in child benefits, policies that led investors to fret about Japan's fiscal health and massive debt pile, but unlike them it has a far bigger online presence from where it can attack Japan's political establishment. Its YouTube channel has 400,000 followers, more than any other party on the platform and three times that of the LDP, according to Sanseito's upper house breakthrough, Kamiya said, is just the beginning. "We are gradually increasing our numbers and living up to people's expectations. By building a solid organization and securing 50 or 60 seats, I believe our policies will finally become reality," he said.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
As Japan Votes, a Trump-Inspired Politician Grabs the Spotlight
The crowd of 800 people were younger than those who typically attend political rallies in Japan. But they had gathered in the shadow of a smoking volcano to hear a populist upstart in Sunday's parliamentary elections whose heated campaign speech would sound familiar to voters in the United States or Europe. They burst into cheers when Sohei Kamiya climbed to the top of a campaign truck decorated in the orange colors of his fledgling political party, Sanseito. Grabbing a microphone, he told them that Japan faced threats from shadowy globalists, lawbreaking foreigners and a corrupt domestic political establishment that was stifling the younger generation with taxes. His solution: a nationalist agenda that he calls 'Japanese First.' 'Japan must be a society that serves the interests of the Japanese people,' Mr. Kamiya told his applauding audience. Mr. Kamiya founded the party and is one of its two sitting members in the Upper House. Elected to a six-year term in 2022, he is not on the ballot himself this year. But he has crossed Japan to campaign on behalf of Sanseito's 54 candidates, a large number that reflects the new party's big ambitions. Opponents and many domestic media reports have accused him of being xenophobic, saying he is directing public dissatisfaction with high prices and stagnant wages at Japan's growing population of foreign residents. At campaign stops, small numbers of protesters hold up signs saying 'no hate' toward non-Japanese. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
