Nationalist Politician Sohei Kamiya Aims To Revitalize Japan

2025-12-09 07:03:12

(MENAFN- Asia Times) 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.

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