Japan’s new right-wing prime minister Sanae Takaichi is riding high in the polls, but Sohei Kamiya’s new nationalist party, Sanseito, which rose to prominance in the Upper House (House of Councillors) election last July, continues to advance in local elections and is making an increasing impact on the national political debate.
Kamiya and Sanseito have upset Japanese politics with a fiery brand of conservatism that defends traditional Japanese values and puts the interests of ordinary citizens ahead of what they regard as excessive globalism.
Leaping to prominence in the Upper House election last July with the slogan “Japanese First,” Sanseito won over millions of disaffected voters by promoting employment and income growth for the people of Japan rather than accepting more and more immigrants. Kamiya also believes that Japan should take responsibility for its own defense.
With his “Japanese First” slogan, Kamiya is often portrayed as a divisive anti-immigrant, anti-globalist clone of Donald Trump. But while he is an electrifying speaker with a strong populist appeal, he is also the most articulate promoter of policies designed to restore economic vitality and confidence to Japan.
Asia Times met with Kamiya at his office near the National Diet in Tokyo last week to ask him about Sanseito’s policies in the current political environment and his plans for the future. He made the following points, which we have elaborated on with information from Sanseito’s website.
1. Sanseito does not want to expel all immigrant workers from Japan.
Rather, it wants to control their numbers and use them as part of an economic policy that increases the size of the economic pie for the Japanese, to promote employment and income growth for Japanese citizens rather than accepting more immigrants. Kamiya cited the example of Europe, where in his view millions of immigrants have added only a little to economic growth, with almost all of the benefits having accrued to them, not to the Europeans.
Sanseito also aims to tighten the requirements for naturalization and permanent residency, which have been eased in recent years, and strictly regulate the purchase of land and water resources by foreign entities.
2. Sanseito advocates an economic policy that deals with the structural causes of Japan’s economic stagnation.
Going beyond the limited tax cuts and subsidies offered by the LDP and other parties, Sanseito aims to roll back the “national burden rate” (taxes + social insurance premiums) to 35%, putting more money in the hands of the people. Last fiscal year, the figure was 46%, meaning that people receive only about half of the earnings their labor generates, which contributes to economic stagnation and lack of motivation to work.
This, Sanseito claims, can be done by optimizing social security spending, shifting from symptomatic to preventive medical care, and reducing the consumption (sales) tax. By setting a cap on the national burden rate, tax revenue will only increase through economic growth, and increasing tax revenue will require pursuing the interests of the people.
Believing that the true purpose of fiscal policy is not to balance income and expenditure, but to pursue a prosperous life for the people, Sanseito recommends issuing government bonds to help support an increase in the nominal GDP growth to the party’s targeted rate of 4% per annum.
Noting that Japan has shifted to an economic model that is “heavily weighted” towards shareholders and finance, Sanseito also wants to shift the distribution of corporate profits from capital to labor, providing greater rewards to the workers and managers who actually create goods and services.
3. Strengthening Japan’s domestic supply chain is a more pressing issue than US tariffs.
Tariffs are a problem, but domestic demand accounts for about 80% of Japan’s GDP. Greater self-sufficiency, notably in agriculture and energy, would boost economic growth, increase economic security, create jobs and raise incomes for the general population.
Sanseito advocates self-sufficiency in food, centering on the production of rice, as well as seeds and fertilizer. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries must be respected as an important foundation of the nation, emphasizing harmony with nature and contributing to health, cultural inheritance, land conservation and food security.
In the field of energy, Sanseito wants to stop environmental destruction caused by the promotion of mega solar and wind power generation, promote next-generation thermal power generation with near-zero CO2 emissions, restart more of the nation’s nuclear power plants and develop nuclear fusion energy.
4. The US should make better use of Japan as an economic partner.
There is great untapped potential in the combination of Japanese manufacturing expertise with American data processing and marketing prowess, for both nations – and in creating an alternative to China together with India and Australia. The US is too fond of tariffs and other forms of economic coercion, while Japan should not simply react to American pressure but be proactive in making constructive proposals.
5. Japan must take responsibility for its own defense.
At present, the US military defends Japan with the Japan Self-Defense Forces playing a supporting role. This must change. Sanseito wants Japan to establish an independent defense capability and promote an equal Japan-US alliance. So far, Japan has not wanted to do that. Now it needs to. Japan must also build up its military to fully contribute to international security.
In addition, Japan, which is surrounded by states possessing nuclear-weapons, must take into account the harsh realities of the international community and, while making nuclear abolition a long-term goal, have a deterrent sufficient to protect Japan today.
Furthermore, while the revision of Japan’s constitution is a perennial topic in Japanese politics, with attention focused on Article 9, which renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation, Sanseito does not advocate simply amending the document, which was written by American Occupation officials after Japan’s defeat in World War II, but hopes to replace it.
The text of Sanseito’s proposed constitution is posted on the party’s website. Article 20 reads (in translation), “The State shall maintain an armed force for self-defense.”
6. Sanseito is still small, but working hard to build up its membership.
Sanseito needs more people and it is not easy to find qualified candidates. The party can cooperate with Prime Minister Takaichi on the 40% of policies on which they agree, but not on the other 60%. Still, that is an improvement over former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with whom Sanseito had only 10% in common.
Looking ahead, Kamiya would like to win 30 seats in the Lower House of the Diet, which would put Sanseito on par with the LDP’s coalition partner Ishin and give it considerable leverage in parliamentary debate. As for when the next general election might be held, that is anyone’s guess.
A new party making a big impact
Sohei Kamiya, now 48 years old, grew up in Fukui Prefecture, north of Kyoto on the Japan Sea coast. After graduating from Kansai University, a respected private institution in Osaka, he taught history at a local high school for a short time before becoming manager of his parents’ Kamiya Store. He returned to Kansai University in 2004 and received his law degree in 2007.
This background sets Kamiya apart from such prominent LDP politicians as Prime Minister Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi who studied at top national universities, went to graduate school in the US, and/or worked in Washington, DC. Kamiya has the common touch, which has helped him mobilize disaffected citizens, many of them young people, who have lost or never had faith in established political parties.
After graduating from law school, Kamiya immediately went into politics, winning election to the Suita City Council in Osaka Prefecture and founding his own political party in 2007. In 2012, he joined the LDP and ran for a seat in the National Diet with the support of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He lost that election but had raised his sights as a conservative politician and influencer. In 2019, he founded Political Party DIY (Do It Yourself), which, like Sanseito today, made extensive use of the internet.
Kamiya and four colleagues established Sanseito in 2020 with the motto “There is no political party we want to vote for, so we will create one from scratch.” In 2022, Kamiya was elected to the House of Councillors (the upper house). In 2024, three other party members were elected to the House of Representatives (the lower but more powerful house).
Then, in the July 2025 upper house election, Sanseito leapt to national prominence by winning 14 additional seats in the House of Councillors, exceeding its own and political pundits’ expectations by a wide margin.
The vote tally was even more impressive. Sanseito received 7.4 million votes, or 58% of the LDP’s 12.8 million, 70% more than the LDP’s ally Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), and slightly more than the CDP (Constitutional Democratic Party), Japan’s largest opposition party (but ineffective).
Another new party, Kokumin (Democratic Party for the People), slightly outpolled Sanseito, but it is known primarily for wanting to raise the level of tax-free income for the working poor. It is not quite a one-issue party, but close.
Sanseito, in contrast, covers the complete range of issues facing Japan.
Sanseito now has 289 branches nationwide and 196 of its members hold public office: 18 in the National Diet (15 in the House of Councillors and 3 in the House of Representatives), nine in prefectural assemblies, 14 in Tokyo Ward assemblies, 129 in city assemblies, 26 in town and village assemblies.
Left-wingers accuse Sanseito of holding a discriminatory view of women, but two of its four board members and half of its National Diet members are women (seven in the House of Councillors and two in the House of Representatives). It is more accurate to say that Sanseito’s critics equate support for the traditional family with discrimination.
Sanseito stands out in Japan’s political landscape with other policies as well, including its advocacy of an educational system that teaches children how to think and learn independently rather than focusing on rote learning and test scores; food and medical care that is independent of chemical substances; and a national land plan that supports the economic development of all regions of the country.
These and other proposals are presented in detail on the party’s website. Not for nothing does it state that “Sanseito operates as a think-tank in the form of a political party.”
For reference we would also note that, according to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, the nation’s calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate was 38% percent in the fiscal year through March 2025 and has been below 40% for more than a decade. Also, nearly 15 years after the disaster in Fukushima in March 2011, only 14 of 33 operable nuclear power reactors in Japan are currently producing electricity.
In our interview, Kamiya’s comments were well-considered and precise – unlike some of his statements in the past that had been quite inflammatory. There was no bombast, gross inaccuracy or blatant exaggeration in the manner of Donald Trump. But Sanseito is well known now and gathering plenty of attention. While retaining its popular appeal, it needs to raise public awareness of its comprehensive proposals for poltical reform.
Looking ahead, the key question is: Can Sanseito maintain its momentum and repeat its success in the House of Councillors by winning a significant number of seats in the House of Representatives in the next general election?
Prime Minister Takaichi’s popularity and right-wing policies could make this more difficult, but they are also testimony to the impact that Sanseito has had on the electorate. And while the LDP may fall back into unfocused “big tent” politics and knee-jerk fiscal conservatism, Kamiya and Sanseito will no doubt stick to their guns.
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