Election season is upon us, as voters will take to the polls on July 20 to elect representatives to Japan’s Upper House.
Several opposition parties have become the talk of the town, namely the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Sanseito — both populist in their own right, having gained support particularly from those disillusioned with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Because Sanseito, the relatively new “do it yourself” party, is running under the banner “Japanese First,” comparisons to the “America First” populist movement in the U.S. abound. But populist movements in Japan are by no means a new phenomenon, having long been a fixture in both local and national politics.
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