Populism is gaining traction even in Japan
A disturbing new phenomenon in Japan is the rising popularity of a populist party called Sanseito which loosely translates as “Do It Yourself Party”. In the 2025 upper house election, Sanseito made a significant breakthrough, winning 14 new seats to bring their total in that chamber to 15. They also hold a few seats in the lower chamber.
The party holds many policy positions similar to other populist parties in the democratic world: anti-immigrant, vaccine-sceptic, , nationalistic ideology, anti same sex marriage and LGBT.
You can read my guide to the Japanese political system here.