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Sanseitō (, ; self-rendered as Party of Do it Yourself!! in English) is a
right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...
political party in Japan In Japan, any organization that supports a candidate needs to register itself as a political party. Each of these parties have some local or national influence. This article lists political parties in Japan with representation in the National Die ...
. The party was founded in 2020 and won a seat in the 2022 House of Councillors election, also becoming an official political party by winning more than 2% of the vote in the election. The party promotes
COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...
and anti-vaccine views. The party's president, Manabu Matsuda, has called
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
s a "murder weapon". Sanseitō gained international media attention during the 2022 House of Councillors election due to the party's Secretary General,
Sohei Kamiya is a Japanese politician who is the founder and Secretary General of the Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party Sanseitō. Kamiya has been serving as a member of the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors since 202 ...
's
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
rhetoric during public appearances and campaign rallies. Observers noted that Sanseitō differ from usual far right political parties in Japan, as most of its supporters are affluent, previously politically apathetic, who get attracted by the party through topics like organic food culture and
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
.


History

The party was founded in March 2020, and became active in April of that year. The party fielded five candidates for the national proportional representation block and 45 candidates in all constituencies for the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election. Sohei Kamiya, a Sanseitō candidate in the national proportional representation block, won a seat. The party received more than 2% of the vote in the constituencies and proportional representation block, meeting the legal requirements for it to become a political party.


Ideology and policies

The party is known for its
ultraconservative Ultraconservatism refers to extreme conservative views in politics or religious practice. In modern politics, ''ultraconservative'' usually refers to conservatives of the far-right on the political spectrum, comprising groups or individuals wh ...
ideology and has been called traditional conservative. It has also been referred to as extremist, "extremely conservative", and "hardline nationalist". The party wants the Japanese public to be able to opt out of wearing masks and taking vaccines during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and has "characterized the pandemic as being staged". The party promotes a range of conspiracy theories regarding vaccines. Key policies of the party are "education reform" to develop the ability to think and to value tradition, "food safety" to promote pesticide-free, and natural food products, " national protection" to regulate foreign investment. And, specifically in the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election the party also proposed the " liberalisation of mask wearing" as their policy on coronavirus. Analysis found that as of 2022 their voter overlap with young people and child-rearing generation suffering from
pandemic fatigue Pandemic fatigue is understood as a natural and expected reaction to sustained and unresolved adversity in people's everyday life. Those affected show symptoms of feeling burnt out and tired, while also expressing feelings of demotivation to en ...
, especially in regions with lower vaccination rate. For these reasons, the party has been criticized and labeled as a far-right political party with adherence to
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
. The party is in favour of rewriting the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
and a defense budget increase of up to 3 percent of the GDP. The party is against
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
, including
civil unions A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...
and opposed the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act.


Supporters

According to Mina Okamura, a clinical psychologist and business psychology consultant, people who have been indifferent to politics and elections were interested in the keywords "anti-vaccine," "no mask," and "organic". Those policies were easy to catch on to by those whom did not study politics. The Sanseitō voters on the whole do not think one's vote can change politics, but encourage political parties, which already exist, to try to do what they think is good. The speech of the party is emotionally rather than logically appealing. Therefore, they appeal to the sensibilities of the politically inexperienced and have increased their support. According to Japanese political analyst Hiroo Hagino, the party is supported by the younger population, who have become disappointed with politics centred on the elderly. According to a JNN survey, a higher proportion of young people voted for Sanseitō in the last election than other demographics. Some Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials expressed worry that they might lose votes because both parties have conservative policies. Most of the Sanseitō voters do not support the Kishida government.


Election results


House of Representatives


House of Councillors


By-elections


Notes


References

{{Authority control Political parties established in 2020 2020 establishments in Japan Anti-immigration politics in Asia Conservative parties in Japan Conspiracy theories in Japan COVID-19 misinformation Far-right political parties in Japan Japanese nationalist parties Opposition to same-sex marriage in Asia Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Japan Political parties in Japan Right-wing populism in Japan Right-wing populist parties Vaccine hesitancy