The , abbreviated as Kōfuku (), is a Japanese political party founded by

Ryuho Okawa Ryuho Okawa (大川隆法; Ōkawa Ryūhō; born Takashi Nakagawa (中川隆; Nakagawa Takashi), 7 July 1956 – 2 March 2023) was a Japanese religious and political leader who was the CEO and founder of the Happy Science and the Happiness Rea ...

on 23 May 2009 "in order to offer the Japanese people a third option" for the elections of August 2009. The HRP is the political wing of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Happy Science , formerly known as The Institute for Research in Human Happiness, is a controversial new religious and spiritual movement, which has been characterized as a cult. The Happy Science group includes a publication division called IRH Press, sch ...

religious movement. Okawa is the current president of the party.

Electoral history

In 2009, the party had 345 candidates, placing it on the ballots of 99% of Japan's 300 constituencies. Many

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

s such as Yoshiro Nakamatsu joined the HRP. Despite fielding a total of more than 1 million votes, the party did not win any seats in the election. In 2012, the party again failed to gain any seats. As of April 2018, the party had 21 elected local councilors.

Policies

According to its manifesto, the group's goal is to more than double Japan's population to 300 million through making child-rearing easier for mothers and accepting foreigners as workforce. It also aims to change the pacifist

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the national Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947, following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces th ...

in order to increase Japan's economic and military power. The group identifies itself as "

" and is generally considered a right-wing party. The party advocates a

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In additi ...

for Japan, denies that the

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

occurred and has called for China to be expelled from the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

. The party has formed links to the American right, having attended the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). ...

in 2012, and bringing with them members of the Tokyo Tea Party, supporting low tax. In 2022, the party blamed the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

on the Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

Administration

Jay Aeba, also known as Jikido Aeba (饗庭直道, あえば直道, Aeba Jikido), was, of May 2012, advisor of the Republican National Committee of the United States in charge of Asia, with Yuki Oikawa as one of the officials of HRP.

President

Leaders

Criticism

According to ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'', "for many, the Happies smell suspiciously like a cult". The party has released promotional videos that claim North Korea and China are plotting to invade and colonize Japan after first subduing it through nuclear warfare.

References

External links

* *
Various Manifesto of the Party
* * {{Authority control 2009 establishments in Japan Anti-Chinese sentiment in Asia Conservative parties in Japan Nationalist parties in Japan Nanjing Massacre deniers Far-right politics in Japan Political parties established in 2009 Political parties in Japan Racism in Japan Religious political parties Religious organizations based in Japan Japanese new religions