Sanseitō (; officially the Party of Do it Yourself !! in English) is a right-wing populist political party in Japan. The party was founded in 2020 and won a seat in the 2022 House of Councillors election, also becoming an official political party by winning more than 2% of the vote in the election.
The party promotes COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine propaganda, including the party's president, Manabu Matsuda, who has called COVID vaccines a "murder weapon". Sanseitō gained international media attention during the 2022 House of Councillors election due to the party's Secretary General, Sohei Kamiya's antisemitic rhetoric during public appearances and campaign rallies. Observers noted that Sanseitō differ from usual far right political parties in Japan, as most of its supporters are affluent, previously political apathetic, who get attracted by the party through topics like organic food culture and spirituality. The party has been described as a cult by experts.
History
The party was founded in March 2020, and became active in April of that year.
The party fielded five candidates for the national proportional representation block and 45 candidates in all constituencies for the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election. Sohei Kamiya, a Sanseitō candidate in the national proportional representation block, won a seat. The party received more than 2% of the vote in the constituencies and proportional representation block, meeting the legal requirements for it to become a political party.
Ideology and policies
The party is known for its extremely conservative flavour and has been called ultraconservative. It has also been referred to as extremist.
The party wants the Japanese public to be able to opt out of wearing masks and taking vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic and has "characterized the pandemic as being staged".
Key policies of the party are "education reform" to develop the ability to think and to value tradition, "food safety" to promote pesticide-free, and natural food products, "national protection" to regulate foreign investment. And, specifically in the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election the party also proposed the "liberalisation of mask wearing" as their policy on coronavirus. Analysis found that as of 2022 their voter overlap with young people and child-rearing generation suffering from pandemic fatigue, especially in regions with lower vaccination rate. For these reasons, the party has been criticized and labeled as a far-right political party with adherence to conspiracy theories.
The party is in favour of rewriting the Constitution and a defense budget increase of up to 3 percent of the GDP.
The party is against same-sex marriage, including civil unions. Sanseitō was one of the only parties in the National Diet to oppose the LGBT Understanding Bill.
Supporters
According to Mina Okamura, a clinical psychologist and business psychology consultant, people who have been indifferent to politics and elections were interested in the keywords "anti-vaccine," "no mask," and "organic". Those policies were easy to catch on to by those whom did not study politics. The Sanseitō voters on the whole do not think one's vote can change politics, but encourage political parties, which already exist, to try to do what they think is good. The speech of the party is emotionally rather than logically appealing. Therefore, they appeal to the sensibilities of the politically inexperienced and have increased their support.
According to Japanese political analyst Hiroo Hagino, the party is supported by the younger population, who have become disappointed with politics centred on the elderly. According to a JNN survey, a higher proportion of young people voted for Sanseitō in the last election than other demographics. Some Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials expressed worry that they might lose votes because both parties have conservative policies. Most of the Sanseitō voters do not support the Kishida government.