"Foreign Students Get Scholarships, Japanese Nationals Neglected?"... 'Japanese First' Spreads via YouTube [Sunday Japanese Culture]

New Far-Right Party Sanseito Wins 15 Seats
Now Able to Independently Propose Non-Budgetary Bills
"Foreign Students Get Money, Japanese Do Not"
"Asian Financial Crisis, Japan's Stagnation... Lies from the Media"
High Prices and Overtourism Fuel Anti-Foreigner Sentiment

This week, Japan is abuzz with the results of the House of Councillors election, which is equivalent to the upper house. Since the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had established a one-party dominance, has seen its number of seats decrease, leading to assessments that its heyday is over. What stands out is that newly formed far-right parties have made a conspicuous rise in this election.

These parties have gained seats by advocating "Japanese First," instead of the "America First" slogan used by former U.S. President Donald Trump. It is known that they expanded their influence by spreading fake news on social networking services (SNS) such as YouTube, which has led major Japanese media outlets to voice concerns. Japanese media believe that these parties have gained momentum by stoking previously hidden anti-foreigner sentiment. This week, we will discuss these developments.

Poster of Sohei Kamiya, leader of the Sanseit? party. It features the slogan "Japanese First Sanseit?." Sanseit? official website.

According to Japanese media, the Sanseit? party secured 15 seats in the House of Councillors election held on the 20th. In Japan, a party must hold at least 11 seats to independently submit bills that do not require budgetary expenditures. Having won 15 seats, Sanseit? can now freely submit such bills. Achieving this in just five years since its founding, the party's growth has been remarkable. Even celebrities such as singers and comedians campaigned as Sanseit? members. Jazz singer Saya also ran in this election and was elected.

The main catchphrase Sanseit? put forward in this election was "Japanese First." Let's look at the remarks of party leader Sohei Kamiya. According to the full speech released by NHK, on the first day of the campaign, Kamiya stated that "life is becoming increasingly difficult for Japanese people," referring to the catchphrase.

He went on to say, "Foreigners keep coming. I don't mind if they're tourists. But if we keep bringing in foreigners indiscriminately as cheap labor, Japanese wages will not rise. And even if foreigners obtain qualifications, they eventually flee back to their home countries, form groups, commit theft, and only increase crime."

Supporters gathered at the Chamjeong Party rally. NHK.

He continued, "So far, low birthrate policies have been wrong. Measures such as encouraging men to participate in childcare are not appropriate. While it is good for women to participate in society, only young women can give birth." He added, "If a woman gives birth and only raises children, we will provide 100,000 yen per child per month. If a child receives this until the age of 15, that is 18 million yen (16,894,000 won) per child, and if she has two children, that's 36 million yen (33,789,000 won). Isn't this better than working part-time or in an office?" These remarks also sparked controversy.

He further stated his opposition to the abolition of the selective married couple surname system (where women take their husband's surname upon marriage) and to all matters involving ideologies such as LGBTQ rights.

According to a Sanseit? campaign report by the Asahi Shimbun, candidates criticized the LDP's economic policies, saying, "The LDP's economic policies have been wrong for 30 years," and did not hesitate to claim, "Some say things like the Asian financial crisis or that Japan is stagnating, but these are lies. The media is collectively reporting falsehoods to hide stories related to the consumption tax."

They distribute such content via YouTube. Sanseit? has the largest number of YouTube subscribers among political parties. During the election period alone, about 97,000 new subscribers joined. Supporters accepted the false information spread on YouTube and reinforced their confirmation bias by returning to the Sanseit? channel. One supporter explained their reason for supporting the party after watching a YouTube video claiming, "The Japanese government gives non-repayable scholarships to foreign students, while Japanese students have to pay full tuition," adding, "It's already hard to use public transportation because of tourists, and the government does not value its own people."

Japan First Party YouTube channel. The profile states "Japan First Party" and "Do not destroy Japan any further." First Party YouTube.

In an interview with the Asahi Shimbun, a woman in her 40s said, "When I take my child to cram school, the other parents are all Chinese who can't speak Japanese. I wonder why they're even in Japan," and added, "That's how I found out about Sanseit? on SNS. This is the only party that advocates for Japanese First."

As a result, at campaign sites, there were frequent clashes between people protesting with placards reading "Hate Group" and "I oppose discrimination," and supporters shouting, "Which country are you from? Go back to your country." The problem is that these incidents did not occur only in specific regions. Sanseit? fielded 10 proportional representation candidates and 55 candidates in local constituencies nationwide, indicating that their influence has expanded across the country.

In fact, Sanseit? was not the only party making such remarks during this election. The leader of the NHK Party (which campaigns for the abolition of NHK license fees) caused controversy by saying, "It's scary when groups of Black or Muslim people gather in front of train stations." As these parties made gains in the election, even media outlets classified as politically conservative expressed concern in their editorials.

Some analysts believe that factors such as the recent "rice price surge," unstable prices, rising accommodation costs due to the influx of tourists, and conflicts caused by overtourism have fueled anti-foreigner sentiment.

Naoki Hyakuta, leader of the Japan Conservative Party, elected to the House of Councillors. Photo by Yonhap News.

If such anti-foreigner sentiment spreads, we cannot feel safe either. In particular, among the Korean-Japanese community, there is growing anxiety that the "hate speech controversy" that occurred in places like Osaka in the 2010s may be repeated. In this election, even anti-Korean forces who had failed every time before succeeded in entering the Diet. Naoki Hyakuta, leader of the Japan Conservative Party, is a far-right novelist who, in 2017, said, "If a battle breaks out, I can kill Zainichi (Koreans in Japan) without hesitation." He was also elected in this election.

There are concerns about how this atmosphere will affect Japan-Korea relations going forward. Even Shigeru Ishiba, considered a moderate within the LDP, is in such a precarious political position that there were breaking news reports about his resignation following the party's defeat in the election. Even if a new prime minister comes in, it seems unlikely that they will be free from the influence of far-right parties, given their current rise.