Has right-wing politics reached shores of conservative Japan?

The populist Sanseitō party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan’s recent upper house elections. The party’s platform is built on a nationalist "Japanese First" message, warning of a "silent invasion of foreigners." Sanseito’s rise reflects growing concerns over immigration and overtourism. With right-wing populism gaining ground globally, shaped by local issues and history, could Japan be next?

Founded in early 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BBC reports that Sanseito initially gained traction among conservatives through YouTube videos promoting anti-vaccine and anti-mask narratives.

The party won its first upper house seat in 2022 after campaigning as an "anti-globalist" force. Supporters at rallies spoke of a world dominated by globalist cabals and financial elites conspiring to control ordinary citizens.

In its latest campaign, Sanseito promised populist measures such as cutting the consumption tax and increasing child benefits. Yet, its hallmark remains its nationalist "Japanese First" stance opposing immigration. Leader Sohei Kamiya has previously admitted he drew inspiration from former US President Donald Trump’s "bold political style."

This summer’s election results also reveal frustration with LDP leader and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who has struggled to restore confidence amid economic headwinds, a cost-of-living crisis, and trade talks with the United States.

Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer in Japanese Studies at Kanda University of International Studies, says growing support for right-wing parties is pulling conservatives away from the LDP.

"Prime Minister Ishiba is considered not conservative enough by many supporters of the former Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe," he says. "They think that he just doesn't have the nationalistic views on history, he doesn't have the strong views against China that [former PM Shinzo Abe] had."

Voters are instead turning to Sanseito and other opposition groups to "vent their frustrations and show the LDP they will pay for turning away from the conservative ideals the party once stood for," says Rintaro Nishimura of The Asia Group’s Japan Practice.

Once a fringe group, Sanseito held just one seat in Japan’s 248-member upper house for three years but became one of this year’s biggest winners, gaining 14 additional seats and bringing its total to 15.

Though modest, this gain is enough to alarm mainstream conservatives worried about losing more votes to the far right. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has now lost its majority in the upper house.

"Despite harping on some common themes – vaccines, immigrants, diversity, gender, and nationalism – the Japanese populists are a little different from far-right parties in other countries and from the older extreme right in Japan. The noisy sound trucks, blaring wartime patriotic songs and bearing young ruffians in quasi-military gear, that have blighted Japanese cities for many decades traded mostly in nostalgia. They longed for Japan’s imperialist past, and blamed the United States, Japanese leftists, and Communist China for robbing Japan of its martial spirit and making the Japanese feel guilty about an entirely honourable war in Asia," notes Project Syndicate in an analysis of Japan’s shifting political scene.

Japan remains one of the world’s most homogenous societies

The foreign resident population reached a record 3.8 million at the end of 2024, up 10.5% from the previous year, according to immigration authorities—yet still only 3% of the total population.

Japan has long been cautious on immigration, but an aging population has forced the government to ease entry rules in recent years to fill labour gaps.

Tourism also hit an all-time high with 36.9 million visitors last year, according to the National Tourism Organization.

Sanseito has capitalized on unease over immigration, accusing the ruling LDP of policies that let more foreigners in.

Anti-immigration rhetoric often spikes in countries facing economic uncertainty, says Hall.

"Misbehaviour and bad manners by some tourists" have intensified the issue, fuelling perceptions of a "big foreign problem," he explains.

"[Sanseito] tapped into the frustration over immigration and the perhaps unwarranted feeling that immigrants were rising too much in number," Hall adds.

Authorities have acknowledged these concerns. Shortly before the elections, a new government committee pledged to build a "society of orderly and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals." While this step likely came too late to alter the outcome, it signals an effort to address the grievances Sanseito has exploited. As experts note, however, the real challenge lies in addressing the deeper roots of these resentments.

By Nazrin Sadigova