"Sanseito party campaigns on anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan election"

A frustrated Japanese electorate, facing economic difficulties, heads to the polls on Sunday as a right-leaning party pushing a nationalist agenda gains traction, with anxieties about foreigners emerging as a key issue in the election.

The party, Sanseito, initially grew on YouTube during the pandemic, amplifying skepticism about vaccines and unverified claims about global elites. Now, ahead of Sunday’s upper house vote, it has expanded its reach—criticizing immigration and bringing once-marginal political rhetoric into the mainstream.

Projections suggest the party may win 10 to 15 of the 125 contested seats. Its rise further weakens Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s fragile minority government, which increasingly relies on opposition parties to stay in power.

Observers note that a major loss for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could cost Ishiba his position, while a strong performance by Sanseito could reshape Japan’s political dynamics.

Sanseito’s messaging has gained traction as global inflation and a weakened yen drive up living costs, particularly for food—a shock in a country accustomed to stable prices. Rice prices nearly doubled in the year leading to June, fueling public discontent and the resignation of a cabinet member.

Wages have stagnated, replacing the long-standing perception of a slow but stable economy with growing financial pressure and uncertainty about the future. Lower-income households have been hit hardest, forming a key part of Sanseito’s support base.

“Many of its supporters are new voters—people disillusioned with mainstream parties,” said Michael Cucek, a political expert at Tokyo’s Temple University.

Sanseito’s platform emphasizes restoring traditional values, repealing the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act, preserving Japan’s cultural identity, limiting immigration, and providing monthly child allowances of 100,000 yen while ending welfare benefits for non-citizens.

“Anti-foreign sentiment, once considered socially unacceptable to voice openly, is now more visible,” said Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Tokyo’s Kanda University who studies Japan’s right-wing movements, highlighting Sanseito’s online influence and its warnings about immigration’s impact on national culture.

The party’s leader, Sohei Kamiya, a former supermarket manager and English teacher, has cited former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “bold politics” as an inspiration. Analysts compare the party to right-wing, anti-immigration groups in Europe, such as Germany’s AfD and Britain’s Reform UK.

“In the past, talking about immigration invited criticism from the left,” Kamiya told Reuters recently. “We still face pushback, but we’re also gaining support.”

The focus on foreign residents follows Japan’s recent easing of its historically restrictive immigration rules to address labor shortages—a shift that has fueled debate amid economic struggles.