Yasuo Tanaka, head of the brand-new New Party Nippon, is aiming his party at building public hope for a brighter future by working at the local and prefectural level to wrest power from central administrative and political authorities.
The five other members of the fledgling party "share the spirit of engaging in politics not for their own interests but for the people and for society," Tanaka, the maverick governor of Nagano Prefecture, said in an interview.
As of Sunday, the party was fielding six candidates in the Sept. 11 general election with plans to add more by Tuesday, when official campaigning kicks off, Tanaka said.