Rise of Japan far-right, anti-globalist movement

TOKYO — Far-right rhetoric and anti-foreign sentiment are on the rise as Sanseito wins 14 seats in the most recent election.

The far-right party saw a significant increase in voter support in this year’s Upper House election, a stark contrast to their one seat win three years prior.

Increased support for Sanseito draws parallels with a rise in anti-foreign sentiment across the country. Foreigners have been blamed by some for an increase in crime, while others blame the government for increasing immigration and expenditure on foreign nationals, according to The Guardian.

Parts of Japan’s populace have taken to the streets in protest, both for and against recent changes.

Anti-Sanseito protests have taken place across Tokyo in the past month as a direct-response to party rallies. A post on Reddit’s r/Tokyo forum announcing a counter-protest was published with an image of a Sanseito poster, defaced with the phrase “NAZI SCUM OFF OUR STREETS”.

Meanwhile, the city of Osaka was met with anti-foreign protesters earlier this month, as fears began about increases of visa issuing to African countries. The issue was swiftly addressed by the government, who clarified the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) program as “the provision of short-term internships for African workers rather than a major relaxation of visa rules”, according to UnHerd and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Ministry of Justice statistics contradict popular anti-foreign claims that foreigners commit a majority of the crimes. In 2022, foreigners were responsible for only 4.7% of the nation’s crimes. Excluding tourists from the analysis and focusing only on foreign residents, the number of crimes goes down to 1.7%, despite this group making up 2.2% of the population.

Charlie Kirk, an American conservative activist assassinated last week, made a visit to Japan just days before his death. Under an invitation by the Sanseito, Kirk traveled to the country to “spread his conservative message about anti-globalism and immigration”, according to CNN correspondent Hanako Montgomery. In an interview with CNN, the activist stated “[I’m] thrilled that there is this growing political movement here in Japan, that is fighting the same things that we believe in.” Kirk’s visit may come as a form of validation, not only of the growing far-right rhetoric and anti-immigration sentiment, but also of American politics’ influence — namely that of the MAGA movement — here in Japan.

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What We Know About the Party

Current leader and face of the party, Sohei Kamiya, founded Sanseito back in 2020 after the success of his YouTube channel “Channel Grand Strategy”, in which he pushed historical revisionism, supporting Imperial Japan and blaming neighboring countries, as well as making anti-globalist and anti-immigration videos. In its founding, the party was based on fighting lockdown and vaccination, and was accused of spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, according to DW.

Sanseito now runs under the “Japanese First” (‘日本人ファースト’) slogan, a hard to miss similarity to President Donald Trump’s “America First” movement. In a similar fashion, the party follows a right-wing ideology of anti-globalism, along with controversial views on public health and education.

According to the ‘policy’ section of the party’s official website, Sanseito presents three key policies:
1. Education and Human Resource Development;
2. Food, Health and Environmental Conservation;
3. Protecting the country.
On the surface, the party proposes seemingly appealing policy goals to prospective supporters, but on the same descriptions of each section, Sanseito is transparent about some of its more radical approaches to policy making.

Among some mainstream and contrastingly left leaning policies such as free schooling for all, promotion of sustainable energy, and reduction of CO2 emissions, Sanseito includes statements such as “Abandoning the masochist view of history, education that makes Japan proud!” and “Strengthening the nation’s immune system by strengthening treatment and prevention systems that do not rely on drugs and vaccines!”

In its “Protecting the country” section, the party spouts fears of foreign intervention in national leadership, and vows to protect against it through steering away from “accepting immigrants” and focusing on employment for citizens. Unemployment in Japan sat at 2.3% in June, following a downward trend, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The party’s initial focus on vaccines during the COVID pandemic has transformed into a potentially dangerous view of public health, one which downplays the important role of medicine and vaccination in the health of individuals and communities.

At a time where international pressure rises on Japan to further and properly acknowledge many of the atrocities committed during the war period, Mr. Kamiya continues to push for historical revisionism without evidence, often following a negationist view of Japanese history. A video since deleted from TikTok was reposted on Reddit, showing Mr. Kamiya stating that “it is a lie that the Japanese military invaded the Chinese mainland without cause”, calling it “a form of self-defense”. This seems to have been said in an attempt to question the veracity of the “Nanjing Massacre”, claiming “there was no strategic reason to carry out such massacre”. The leader of Sanseito called the teaching of such a narrative in schools an attempt to justify the atomic bombings of Japan by the United States.

Earlier this week South Korea renewed its call for Japan to squarely acknowledge wartime sexual slavery, in a letter to the U.N. human rights body. Historical estimates show 200,000 women, often referred to as “comfort women”, were “forced to work in Japanese front-line brothels during the war”, according to The Korea Times.