Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03) presents WIT Life, a periodic series about aspects of Japanese culture such as art, film, food and language. Stacy starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she offers some interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) coalition lost its longtime majority in the upper house of the Diet to a variety of opposition parties in last weekend’s election. The LDP had also lost its lower house majority in an election last fall, making this election the first time since the party’s 1955 founding that its coalition lost majorities in both legislative houses. Following the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the conservative LDP has shifted more toward the center and other right-wing parties have swooped in to fill the gap.
Most notable is the relatively new Sanseito (参政党 or Participate in Politics party), an ultra-conservative, right-wing populist party that campaigned on a “Japanese First” agenda and railed against the deluge of foreign tourists and foreign buying of Japanese homes. In its appeal to younger voters, in addition to its anti-immigrant stance Sanseito also seeks to raise wages and break the grip that older voters have held on politics (it also espouses the retrogressive idea that women should be less career-focused and have more children). Sanseito is led by Secretary-General Sohei Kamiya, a 47-year old former teacher who has cited Trump as his inspiration. He founded the party in early 2020 along with two others who have since left. At the time they gained prominence via a YouTube channel that spread conspiracy theories about vaccines.
With an August 1 deadline looming, after extensive negotiations Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and team were finally able to reach a 15% tariff rate on Japanese exports to the U.S. They avoided the 25% rate being threatened, which was seen as crucial to Ishiba’s political survival. However, there is a movement to topple him known as MIGA (石破おろし or Make Ishiba Go Away) that is causing a rift within the party. LDP lawmakers held a 4.5 hour meeting at the Diet on Monday, with some supporting Ishiba remaining in power and others saying this goes against voters’ wishes and would create a political vacuum. Ishiba is asserting that he will stay on to oversee implementation of the tariff agreement and to watch over future agricultural policies, social security and tax systems. Stay tuned to see how the fate of the LDP and Japan plays out…
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