Japan’s governing coalition has lost its upper house majority following elections that saw major gains for a right-wing populist party that warned of a “silent invasion” by foreigners.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s coalition won 47 seats in the 248-seat House of Councillors in Sunday’s election, three short of the 50 it needed to retain control of the upper chamber.
The outcome left Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and junior partner Komeito with a combined 122 deputies in the upper chamber, which fills half of its seats in elections every three years.
The result marks another serious blow for Ishiba, whose government is locked in high-stakes trade negotiations with United States President Donald Trump’s administration, after his coalition lost control of the more powerful National Diet, the lower house, in elections in October.
Speaking late on Sunday as exit polls pointed to a drubbing for his coalition, Ishiba said he “solemnly” accepted the “harsh result”.
“It’s a difficult situation, and we have to take it very humbly and seriously,” Ishiba said in an interview with state broadcaster NHK.
Ishiba, who has led a minority government since losing control of the lower house, said he intended to stay on as prime minister despite the poor result.
Amid widespread discontent over rising living costs, the previously fringe Sanseito party broke into the political mainstream, picking up 14 seats on top of its one existing seat.
The party, which only holds three seats in the National Diet, capitalised on voter frustration over inflation and Japan’s moribund economy with warnings about immigration and populist pledges on tax cuts and social welfare.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya, a 47-year-old former English teacher and supermarket manager, has stirred controversy with conspiracy theories about vaccines and “globalist elites”, and cited Trump’s “bold political style” as inspiration.
In an interview with Nippon Television after the vote, 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 denying accusations of xenophobia, Sanseito built its platform on nationalist appeals and fears of a “silent invasion” by immigrants.
Political analysts say the party’s message resonates with many Japanese voters facing a stagnant economy and a weakening yen, which have 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 that just 7 percent of respondents considered immigration as their main concern. Far more voters expressed anxiety over the country’s declining birthrate 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 weakness,” said Joshua Walker, the president of the US-based Japan Society.
While Sanseito has drawn comparisons with far-right European groups such as Germany’s AfD and Reform UK, right-wing populism is a relatively new phenomenon in Japan, where such movements have historically struggled to gain traction.
This is why I discourage anyone borderline worshipping Japan as like this high tech utopia.
It’s a borderline ethnostate with deep rooted systemic political and racial problems (in particular with Koreans) and one hell of an aversion to women.
The Japanese people are nice with a diversity of thought like any population but let’s not kid ourselves, Japan is a conservative’s political fantasy.
And like the US, it hasn’t fully purged It’s far right (in this case, fascistic) elements form it’s recent history.
Japan: A lovely place but a political hellhole.
And don’t get me started on their cops!
And like the US, it hasn’t fully purged It’s far right (in this case, fascistic) elements form it’s recent history.
You say “not fully purged,” but they were hardly purged at all.
There were mass purges of leftists before and after WWII, however. It’s amazing there were so many leftists in Japan’s entertainment industry, given how many communists were killed there.
Now that you mention it… True.
This is why I discourage anyone borderline worshipping Japan as like this high tech utopia
This isn’t 2012 who on this website let alone in any place not named reddit or 4chan is still glazing japan like its china?
You’d be surprised… sometimes IRL.
A lot of people still do because of Japanese soft power. You even have Asian liberals who see the Japanese model as a superior alternative to “authoritarian” China
I knew they were a fash-fantasy world when people started glazing their 99.9% conviction rate.
Isn’t this statistic basically a misunderstanding of the system? I’m no expert but it’s not like 99.9% of arrested suspects get convicted, my understanding was this is like saying the US has a 99.9% conviction rate if you only counted from when you started sentencing. At which point like, yeah, obviously.
Yeah… it baffles me both how “effective” the cops are (Pretty sure they make up some BS law or they pick up a foreigner who doesn’t speak the language and screw them over) and how many people praise them… Some wanting them imported to the US with one Reddit user IIRC stating (before I got botted from the site) that the “George Floyd thing wouldn’t happen becuase they’re effective dealing with the delinquent population and bringing order to any disturbance”
Translation: he wanted Japansese cops because according to him they keep black people in check and beat protestors willy nilly.
Uh oh.
Mooooooom, Japan is doing it again!
rising food prices, particularly rice, which has doubled in cost over the past year
A historical sign of social stability in Japan
B… baka! clenches fist how could my spiritual homeland… Luffy’s kuni do this?! RRRahhhh! This is not sugoi. Gasp maybe I’m the problem, maybe I need to abandon communism and become one with Nihon no culture. Unleashes tailed beast aura in sadness
Japan’s governing coalition has lost its upper house majority following elections that saw major gains for a right-wing populist party that warned of a “silent invasion” by foreigners.
Ahhh yes the 97% ethnically Japanese state is being “invaded”.
Why the fuck does this shit work literally everywhere in the world even in the most obviously false of circumstances.
I think it’s more that people know the status quo isn’t working so they want some kind of change.
Unfortunately because there’s been so much propaganda in the imperial core and periphery against anything that goes against capitalism in these people tend to go to the far right since it’s the only “allowed” option other than the status quo.
I think the bright side (if there is any) is that once the left reaches a critical mass of support we’ll see a surge in support as people realize it’s the better alternative. The challenge is getting to the level.
That is what the article says but its not anywhere near the main reason. The successive governments since Abe have not managed to actualy do anything to improve the economy, the small towns are becoming deserted at alarming rates, while rent in Tokyo etc continues very high. MR just wrote about it.
In Japan, the ‘populist’ right is represented by the Sanseito party, which is against immigration and foreigners under the slogan “Japanese First” and has gained support among younger voters.
But those are not the main issues concerning voters. Instead, it is dissatisfaction with rising inflation, low wage growth and high taxes, leading to a wave of support for previously marginal parties that have pledged more government spending and cuts to the sales tax on all goods. The LDP has promised cash handouts and other measures to lower energy prices.
The major shift is that historicaly Japan was a very low inflation country, but recently it started going up. The Japanese are simply not used to this. Economic stagnation worse living conditions = right wing opportunism.
Its no different than anywhere else really. Anti-immigration is a fringe issue, the 18-45 population in Tokyo are very used to white people already and they accept it. Those that don’t are really small town boomers who tend to be quite racist but otherwise its not that bad i.e enough to shape politics.
When they say “Japan first” its not only immigration or racism for young people, its about “our economic interests first”, its why right wing opportunism is so effective.
Why the fuck does this shit work literally everywhere in the world even in the most obviously false of circumstances.
Stalin quote about blackest reaction etc.
They just want the old Empire back to
take over the land that is rightfully ours and rid world of the Chinese horde!!!bring back the “Good ol’ Days”Democracy manfest. Their country has been run by the CIA for generations. We beat the brainworms into them
I remember seeing sanseito posters for the first time on my way to work like a year and a half ago now, always wondered what it was - I could tell it was a political party, but anytime I went to look them up, nothing came up. And now everyone is talking about them lol
Anyways, what’s also funny is that I’ve seen the NHK party, another party started on youtube, on election boards in my area too - featuring the same guy that this video is about. Lol I guess he found a way out of his legal issues?
So the election board shows a candidate from the LDP (with the slogan “say say, do do” in English lmao), one from the komeito, the NHK weirdo, a sanseito candidate, and the communist party of Japan - 4 right wing candidates and one vaguely left wing one.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Yet another first world country where the insurgent party comes from the right
It’s a common issue everywhere, this is possible in many countries now because of the shift in demographic balance where elderly make a bigger voter bloc compared to rest. Whereby governments use pensions and benefits for the elderly as a source of easy votes while using policies that constantly undermine young populations with living cost concerns then foreigners make an easy target and at the same time something to associate their discontentment towards governments and economic situation. In a way these governments make immigrants partners in crime to their adherence to status quo that keeps getting more and more unsustainable when immigrants are often preferred because it is easier to exploit them with lower wages and basically no working rights while at the same time pretending they can’t do anything about it because of international laws or “because of the woke” or something like that.
It’s the opposite in Guatemala where we saw a leftist surge. We have a much younger population that’s recently become more politically active after years of being exhausted with far-right rule.
Obviously, these populist rightwing parties aren’t a solution to anything at all. They are not going to improve living conditions of anyone but unfortunately the indifference and even disdain the ruling governments have towards the suffering of youth makes them easy prey to populism when they give them such an easily identifiable target to focus their angst towards. In other places where the situation is different that angst will be towards the incumbent governments especially if their governance has been long as it has been in many places.
Japan in particular is wildly xenophobic to begin with and it hasn’t offered a future to youth for decades, it had the advantage of being generally affordable especially in terms of housing for decades despite the stagnation but even that is no longer true as in general living standards in Tokyo started to fall behind Western cities in terms of salaries and working hours. So honestly I actually think the rightwing populism will only gain more traction if it remains in opposition because it can keep pointing fingers while the government won’t address anything real and it will never be enough.
I mean Japan is 97% Japanese and main immigrant groups are nearby nations, will problems of Japan be solved if 750k Chinese and 500k Koreans living there are removed? Yet there has been a lot of far right rabble rousing about 3000 Kurds living in Saitama, a population that’s basically otherwise irrelevant in a city like Tokyo. It is all agitation and angst and no resolution at all and it is not going to get better for them economically in their current configuration which exists between serving status quo and catering primarily to pensioners.
“Japan in particular is wildly xenophobic to begin with and it hasn’t offered a future to youth for decades”
Not since like the late Nineties - early Aughts when the economy began to stagnate.
And speaking of Kurds and similar groups of people from MENA (They’re super few but they’re there) considering where they’re from and the religion they subscribe to, Islam, the police have a carte blanche to spy on them whenever the hell they feel like it.
Does Japan still have “freedom of association” laws that apply to racial discrimination or does it not? Was the relative success of the Shinzo Abe assassination’s political motive tied to the Moonie cult being Korean, or was it not?
“We have a much younger population that’s recently become more politically active after years of being exhausted with far-right rule.”
God I hope the US either collapses for its own stupidity for bungling the most consequential election in world history or experiences a leftist surge that finally tells the Nazis and the GOP to [Redacted just in case, you know what I mean.]
these are all completely isolated incidents though, there’s no pattern
audible gasp
I bet it was fucking Nintendo. They’re always doing this shit. They released a good game in DK so they have to do something awful to compensate
right-wing populism is a relatively new phenomenon in Japan, where such movements have historically struggled to gain traction
deleted by creator
a relatively new phenomenon in Japan, where such movements have historically struggled to gain traction
that’s because it was right-wing technocratism. I don’t gtf why liberals get more pissed off at the fact that it’s a ‘populist’ party, instead of the mere fact it is the same old reactionary shtick in Japan itself.
Lemme guess, civility is when technocracy, but when you have more ‘populocracy’, it is more uncivil.
Yep.
Especially since the same conservative party has had power for the better part of SEVEN DECADES.
Nothing bad has ever happened when the far-right was in power in Japan
