Voters afraid of ‘scary foreigners’ propel Sanseito before election

by AKARI SUGIYAMA
June 26, 2025

Voters listen to a speech at Sanseito’s street rally in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward on June 21. (Akari Sugiyama photo

Sohei Kamiya insists that he and his rising Sanseito political party are not encouraging hatred and discrimination against foreigners, despite running election campaigns featuring anti-immigrant rhetoric and warnings about foreign-related crimes.

“We are not promoting xenophobia,” Kamiya said at a news conference on June 22. “Japanese people feel unease and dissatisfaction because there are no established rules for accepting foreigners.”

Although Sanseito has faced criticism and protests over its policies, its “Japanese first” stance has steadily gained traction around Japan, and the party could make a move on the national stage in the Upper House election next month.

Sanseito fielded candidates for the first time in a Tokyo metropolitan assembly election and won three seats on June 22.

Those victories followed a string of top finishes for the party’s candidates in other assembly elections.

Sanseito spreads its messages mainly through YouTube videos and social media posts.

But in the Tokyo assembly election campaign, the party and its candidates also blared their policies on the streets of the capital.

On the evening of June 21, Kamiya gave a speech in front of Kyodo Station in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward.

“Foreigners tend to forge anything and are good at finding legal loopholes,” he said. “We must not allow such behavior.”

His 14-minute speech offered no specific data or examples to back up his claims. But the lack of evidence did not seem to bother his supporters.

A 66-year-old office worker, who happened to pass by the rally, gave a big nod of approval to Kamiya’s speech.

She explained that she experienced an immigrant-related problem when she was a foreigner living in Germany about 30 years ago.

“My family was attacked by a brute. They managed to escape, but immigrants are scary,” she said.

She said she didn’t want the number of foreigners in Japan to increase.

A 54-year-old corporate worker who lives in Tokyo’s Ota Ward volunteered to distribute Sanseito fliers during the metropolitan assembly election campaign period.

He said he supports Sanseito because of his concerns about the rising number of foreigners in Japan.

“Foreigners are scary. I’m afraid they may go on a rampage,” he said.

When asked why he feared foreigners, he admitted that he had not actually experienced any direct harm from them.

NO SLOWING DOWN

At a news conference on June 6, Kamiya explained the reason the party adopted “Japanese First” as its central slogan.

“Many citizens are frustrated that too much money is being spent on social security and education support for foreigners,” he said.

He also said “Japanese First” frequently appears on social media, reflecting what Sanseito supporters want.

But there has been pushback.

At a street rally in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward on the night of June 17, Kamiya again stressed the need to crack down on “foreigners who commit illegal acts.”

After the speech, an argument broke out between Sanseito supporters and a man holding a placard that read, “Stop discrimination” and “Racists are abusing elections to incite hatred.”

However, such counterprotests have not slowed the party’s momentum.

Sanseito-backed candidates won the most votes in municipal assembly elections held on June 15 in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, Awara, Fukui Prefecture, and Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture.

With three Tokyo assembly seats secured, the party is now preparing for the July 20 Upper House election.

On the afternoon of June 15, about 100 supporters gathered in nearly 30-degree heat in front of JR Sakuragicho Station in Yokohama for a campaign event featuring prospective Sanseito candidates for the Upper House election.

By the end of the six-hour rally, the crowd had swelled to about 400, some waving Japanese flags.

Supporters say the party’s messages directly address the daily frustrations and anxieties of the public.

“Sanseito says things that other parties don’t say,” said a 35-year-old homemaker attending the rally with her husband and child in a stroller.

She said she feels that way because of the party’s YouTube videos, including ones emphasizing that the government is covering tuition and living expenses for foreign students.

The mother said she took out a loan of 5 million yen ($34,500) for her college tuition and is still repaying the debt by drawing from her savings.

“It feels unfair,” she said.

She had not been interested in politics until last year’s Lower House election, when she started supporting the opposition Democratic Party for the People.

She said she was impressed with DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki and his promises on social media to “increase disposable income.”

But she lost her faith in the party after learning that the DPP was supported by Rengo, the Japanese trade union confederation.

From her perspective, the DPP’s connection to a major organization like Rengo made it look too similar to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“I want to trust Sanseito because the party says its backers are the party members and the people,” she said.

A 37-year-old single mother from Shinagawa Ward, who says she works as a dental hygienist and is financially struggling, came to the Yokohama rally with her 2-year-old child.

After losing a lottery for a home in public housing, she noticed what appeared to be a foreign family living there.

“I want the government to use tax money primarily for Japanese people and their children,” she said.

Although she had never been interested in elections, she now plans to vote for Sanseito in the Upper House election.

FOOD SECURITY, VACCINES

Sanseito’s other policies include “realizing food and medical care that do not rely on chemical substances” and “reviewing vaccine promotion policies.”

Many supporters have praised the party for “talking about vaccine issues that the mainstream media won’t cover.”

Twenty-five supporters at a street rally were asked why they became interested in Sanseito. Nineteen cited the party’s YouTube videos and three mentioned clips seen on X (formerly Twitter) or TikTok.

A 73-year-old part-time worker from Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward who came to Sanseito’s street rally on June 21 said mainstream TV programs are “boring and full of lies.”

He said he spends three to four hours a day on YouTube, mainly following videos from Sanseito and those from celebrities who support the party.

THRIVING IN ANONYMOUS SPACES

Five years after its foundation, Sanseito has secured four seats in the Diet and 150 local assembly seats.

Writer Tsunehira Furuya, who has expertise in conservatism and online public opinions, said Sanseito has gained followers by focusing on issues closely related to people’s daily lives, such as food safety and vaccines.

“The party’s easy-to-understand and accessible messages have reached people who previously had no interest in politics,” Furuya said.

He also commented on Sanseito’s claims that “foreign students are being favored” and that immigrants have led to a deterioration in “public safety.”

“They are not based on specific data but are easy to understand and resonate well in anonymous online spaces,” Furuya said.

He believes the party’s strategy is to prey on people’s fear of unfamiliar things, and he warns that this can be a starting point for xenophobia.

SUPPORT SHIFT FROM ABE

“Immigration issues were previously seen as a topic that couldn’t attract votes in elections, but they gained traction in this (Tokyo assembly) election,” said Katsuhiro Yoneshige, president of news venture JX Press Corp.

In a JX Press survey conducted on June 14 and 15, 17 percent of respondents said “foreigners/inbound tourism” was the most important issue in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, followed by 11 percent who cited “education/child-rearing.”

Among those prioritizing the “foreigners” issue, the biggest group, at 19 percent, planned to vote for Sanseito candidates.

Yoneshige believes Japanese voters likely do not feel that “immigrants are stealing jobs,” a complaint heard in some Western countries.

But Japanese may believe that “taxes should be spent on themselves rather than foreigners in a period of inflation and financial hardship,” he said.

Yoneshige also noted that many young people who favored former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the LDP have shifted their support to Sanseito.

In the same June survey, 60 percent of Sanseito supporters said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of Abe’s second stint as prime minister.

“That’s one of the highest approval rates among opposition party supporters,” Yoneshige said. “Sanseito has become a new home for those disillusioned with the LDP.”

Both Sanseito and the DPP place importance on online promotion, such as regularly posting YouTube videos.

Their supporters are more likely than backers of the LDP or the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan to cite YouTube or X as their main sources for political information.

Yoneshige believes Sanseito may increase its seats in the Diet next month considering that it is fielding candidates nationwide and its support rate is increasing.

“It is possible that the ‘Sanseito phenomenon’ may happen, possibly taking votes away from the LDP in single-seat constituencies,” he said.