Far Right Rises In Japan

 Sanseito brings far-right populism to Japan

 
In the U.S., there is MAGA. In the U.K., Reform. In France, the National Rally. And in Germany, the Alternative for Germany. What do they have in common? They are all far-right, populist parties that the leader of a surging political party in Japan says he admires.
 
Sanseito, a self-acclaimed anti-globalist party, has taken the Japanese political world by surprise. With its incendiary slogan, "Japanese First," the party has inserted itself into the national debate through a potent mix of social media activism and conspiracy-laced messaging. Polls show it could win around 10 seats in Sunday's upper house election.
 
Yet Romeo Marcantuoni, who has been conducting research on Sanseito since 2022, argues that their rise to greater prominence is possible, but not inevitable: "The sudden interest in Sanseito has already mobilized a powerful, albeit belated, response from the media, the opposition parties and civil society. Sanseito and its supporters are likely to call this out as part of the conspiracy to silence them."
 
"Liberal democracy is based on tolerance and diversity, but it also depends on treating as abnormal those views that undermine its basic values. That means publicly rejecting the possibility of coalition with far-right populists as well as disallowing them from setting the agenda," he adds. "Whether Japan will judge the views that Sanseito is promoting to be abnormal and unacceptable remains to be seen."
 
Another consequence of the upper chamber election -- usually observed less closely than the election for the more powerful lower house -- could be the fate of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Flagging in the polls after a year in power, Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-led coalition is at risk of losing its majority in the upper house -- after losing it in the lower chamber last autumn.
 
Ishiba's government is being hit with a perfect storm of tariffs, inflation and budget troubles. William Pesek writes that bond vigilantes are bidding up Japanese government bond yields. Earlier this week, 20-year rates rose to their highest since 1999.
 
"Bond traders are demanding that the LDP consider debt rehab. It is high time that the government and the Tokyo establishment realized they make a good point," he says.