Sanseito party courts Trump allies, vows not to get wacky

Japan’s far-right Sanseito party has set up an international arm to court Trump allies such as Steve Bannon and like-minded groups in Europe, betting that global conservative recognition will help it shake up staid Japanese politics, according to four party officials. Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and the perceived influence of global elites, Sanseito broke into mainstream politics in a July election with fiery warnings about foreigners.

Now, as Japan’s long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party picks a new leader to steady its shaky administration, Sanseito is seeking to raise its international profile to lend credibility to its challenge for power and influence. “It’s clear that we no longer live in an era where Japan can determine its course alone,” party leader Sohei Kamiya told Reuters in an interview.

“So we want to get our message out abroad first,” he said, adding that this would help circumvent what he considers a pro-establishment domestic media. To spearhead this effort, the party established an international division in Tokyo in September to accelerate a strategy of engaging with people in President Donald Trump’s orbit and European right-wing figures, according to Kamiya and three other Sanseito officials as well as US disclosure documents.

Details of Sanseito’s global outreach, some of which predates the international division, haven’t been previously reported. The strategy marks a step change for Japan’s otherwise insular far-right politics and may give Sanseito staying power where other challengers have failed, said Jeffrey Hall, an academic specializing in Japanese politics at Kanda University. “A lot of what Sanseito talk about is about how immigration has destroyed other countries in the world. By meeting with figures who are saying those things in the West and being recognized by them, it does help Kamiya stand out,” he said.

Shigeru Ishiba

Japan’s foreign resident population hit a record 3.8 million last year, which at 3% of the total is far lower than in the United States or western Europe.

Nevertheless, Sanseito’s warnings of a “silent invasion” resonated with some voters angry about rising living costs in July’s upper house election, catapulting the party’s tally in the 248-seat chamber to 15 seats from one previously.

The LDP and its coalition partner lost their majority, leading Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign. A September 8 poll by public broadcaster NHK showed Sanseito is now Japan’s most popular opposition party, leading the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party. Sanseito aims to win 30 to 40 seats in the next lower-house election, to add to three currently, giving it enough members to submit bills and possibly enter a power-sharing arrangement, Kamiya said.

He hopes that whoever wins the LDP leadership race on October 4 — likely either hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi or the more-moderate Shinjiro Koizumi — will call a snap election to test public appetite for their premiership. Koizumi told Reuters he would engage with all opposition parties, but if elected he had no plans “at this time” to call an election. Takaichi’s office said she wasn’t available to comment. An oft-cited Japanese proverb warns that “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” — meaning those who break from the norm are criticized or pressured to conform.

But international recognition can help Kamiya avoid that fate, said Sen Yamanaka, a US-educated former banker turned Sanseito lawmaker who heads the party’s new international arm. That is one reason the party arranged for US influencer Charlie Kirk, who played a key role in driving youth support for Trump, to speak at an event in Tokyo in September. Kirk was fatally shot less than a week later.