Japan's 2025 Upper House Elections II

Upsurge of a New Populist Party in the Election Campaign

By Takuya Nishimura, APP Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun.

The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun.
You can find his blog, J Update here.
July 14, 2025. Special to Asia Policy Point

As Japan’s Upper House election campaigns enter their last week, policies toward foreigners in Japan have become prominent. Most parties, whether they are part of the current coalition or not, support the immigration of foreign workers to fill labor shortages.,

However, one small populist party, Sanseito [参政党, lit. 'Political Participation Party'; translated as the Party of Do it Yourself!! in English] appears to have attracted substantial support (largely at the expense of the LDP and Komeito) by arguing that the Japanese should operate the country by themselves and reduce their dependence upon foreign workers. This issue has now taken on considerable importance.

Sanseito was established in 2020 as an alternative to current traditional parties by reaching out to potential supporters via the Internet and social media. In 2022, the party’s leader, Sohei Kamiya, became the first party member to win election to the Upper House. In the Lower House election in 2024, the party garnered three more seats. Sanseito has about 150 seats in local assemblies, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, in which the party won three seats in June.

Sanseito has adopted “The Japanese First” as its catch phrase in the Upper House election campaign, much like the terms “America First” or “Make America Great Again” used by U.S. President Donald Trump. The party is clearly right wing. In a July 3 press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club, Sanseito’s leader, Sohei Kamiya, listed four foreign parties that Sanseito felt closest to: the most conservative part of the Republican Party in the U.S., Alternative for Deutschland in Germany, the National Rally in France, and Reform U.K. in Britain.

Sanseito’s founding principle is anti-globalism. “There is globalism behind the scenes in our current economic stagnation, in which multinational companies collect money through deregulation, accelerating poverty and ruining the middle class,” Kamiya said in a debate of eight party leaders at the Japan National Press Club (JNPC) on July 2.

Sanseito’s party platform for the Upper House election includes regulations that would prohibit excessive entry of foreign workers and the purchase of real property by foreigners. Calling Sanseito by its nickname, the “Party of Do It Yourself,” Kamiya believes that Japan can rebuild without foreign workers by taking advantage of such technologies as artificial intelligence and robotics, even if Japan has a smaller population in the future.

These policies prove a xenophobic aspect of Sanseito. “Japan has no anti-espionage law and no strict punishment for foreigners’ crimes or false advantages (in taxation or welfare),” Kamiya said at the JNPC debate. That statement ignited a controversy on policies for foreigners. As a matter of fact, Japan has Special Secret Protection Act and Economic Security Promotion Act. Crimes by foreigners in 2024 declined by half from 2005. Newspapers published editorials that opposed exclusion of foreigners.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has supported foreign workers as a solution to labor shortages in Japan. To address complaints about advantages for foreign workers, the LDP proposes to end illegal immigration into Japan. Opposition parties have been critical of the deteriorating situation of foreign workers. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, for example, stresses the need to build “a multi-cultural coexisting society.” The Democratic Party for the People (DPP), however, agrees with Sanseito on a prohibition on foreign ownership of real property.

Sanseito could be a threat to the LDP. In a poll by Kyodo News in late June, Sanseito took the second position behind the LDP with an 8.1 percent approval rating in proportional districts in the Upper House election. There is a speculation that Sanseito will win ten or more seats.

Sanseito has staked out ultra-conservative positions on other issues unrelated to immigration. The party interprets the Emperor as “sacred and inviolable” in their draft of new constitution of Japan, using the term in pre-war Constitution of the Empire of Japan. Sanseito would also redefine the Self-defense Force as a military force.

It is likely that Sanseito has won over some LDP conservative supporters. Kamiya judges that some disappointed LDP supporters shifted to the DPP, and then they came to Sanseito, frustrated with the liberal DPP.

Given this surge of support for right-wing causes, the LDP is under serious pressure in the prefectural districts. In some traditionally conservative districts, the LDP is in a close race with opposition parties.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had anticipated gains in popular support for the LDP with the conclusion of tariff negotiations with the U.S. before the campaign season opened on July 3. That did not happen. Aggravating the situation was a July 7 letter from Trump threatening a 25 percent tariff rate starting on August 1. “It’s a battle of our national interest. We won’t be taken advantage of,” Ishiba said in a campaign rally on July 9, using unusually aggressive language for a prime minister.

It seems to be the time for the LDP to face the negative aspects of their past policies. Importing foreign labor and prioritizing car manufacturers over other industries have too heavily focused on a “growth-oriented” economy. The LDP put aside some problems caused by these policies such as the impact of labor imports on people’s life or the damage on agriculture from trade deals with the U.S. or other countries. As a result, they made a room for a populist party to step in.