MAGA-style anti-globalist ideals are making a comeback in Japanese politics, spurred by right-wing politicians across the world.
The 'Japanese first' Sanseito party increased its seats from just two to 15 in Sunday's upper house elections.
This includes "stricter rules and limits" on immigration and foreign capital, opposition to "globalism" and "radical" gender policies, and a rethink on decarbonisation and vaccines and pesticide-free agriculture. Its leader, Sohei Kamiya, a 47-year-old former teacher and supermarket manager, has vowed to bring back power to the Japanese people.
Several surveys conducted in the country revealed that Japanese people were less worried about immigration and more concerned about the rising inflation. Kamiya, while blaming the Japanese government for cheap immigration plans, said, “It is fine if they visit as tourists, but if you take in more and more foreigners, saying they're cheap labour, then Japanese people's wages won't rise.” He said, though Japanese society is struggling due to the influx of foreigners in the country, "We are not exclusionary. We have never called to drive out foreigners."
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Meanwhile, the Japanese think tank, the Institute of Law and Information Systems, blamed Russia for spreading misinformation for the ongoing political chaos. Though the anti-globalist Japanese leaders didn’t blame Russia for spreading misinformation and said, "Russia's military invasion (of Ukraine) was, of course, bad, but there are forces in the United States that drove Russia into doing that.”
Ishiba’s coalition won 47 seats in the 248-seat House of Councillors in Sunday’s election, three short of the 50 it needed to retain control of the upper chamber.
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