Japan First Party

The Japan First Party (日本第一党, Nihon/Nippon Daiittō) is a far-right political party in Japan founded by Makoto Sakurai.

Japan First Party
日本第一党
LeaderMakoto Sakurai
SecretaryMomo Yusura
Deputy Leader (PR)Rei Senzaki
Deputy Leader (Policies)Akira Nagao
Deputy Leader (Discipline, Youth, Women)Ayaka Takahashi
Top AdvisorHiroyuki Seto
FounderMakoto Sakurai
FoundedAugust 29, 2016 (2016-08-29)
Women's wingJapan Patriotic Women's Club
Membership (2017)1,800 (est.)
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[4][5]
ColorsRed and Black
Councillors
0 / 242
Representatives
0 / 465
Prefectural assembly members
0 / 2,675
City and town assembly members
0 / 30,490
Website
japan-first.net

History

On August 15, 2016, Sakurai announced in front of a crowd at the annual gathering to protest the Hantenren in front of Yasukuni Shrine that he would not stop at the Tokyo election, and would create a new political party to prioritize and benefit the people of Japan over foreign powers.[6] After first jokingly announcing the new party name as "A meeting to bring the metropolitan government back into the hands of the people" (都政を国民の手に取り戻す会), he formally announced on August 29, 2016, the party name "Japan First Party" (日本第一党).[7]

The JFP held its first convention in APA Hotel on February 26, 2017, and Sakurai, who was until then de facto leader, formally became leader of the JFP.[8]

As of April 27, 2017, there are about 1800 party members, but no members of the party in any government office.[9] The same day, Mikio Okamura (岡村幹雄), sitting beside Sakurai, formally announced at a press conference his plan to run for the upcoming Tokyo Prefecture Legislature Election (ja) in July 2017.[10]

In 2021, Makoto Sakurai ran for the Tokyo gubernatorial election and received 178,784 votes (2.92％). The Japan First Party ran in the 2021 Japanese general election running a total of 5 candidates, with 33,611 votes (0.52%) and Makoto Sakurai having 9,449 votes (3.96%) in the Tokyo 15th District.

The Japan First Party ran in the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election running a total of 10 candidates, with 109,046 proportional votes (0.21%) and 74,097 constituency votes (0.14%).

Policies

Many of the promises from Sakurai's campaign in the Tokyo gubernatorial election have been included in the policies outlined by the JFP such as the exclusion of foreigners from receiving welfare. The policies include the rewriting of the Japanese constitution from scratch to put the Emperor as the head of state, install a military, and make defense of the country a civic duty.[11] JFP is also evaluated as an alt-right group.[12]

Election results

House of Representatives
House of Representatives
Election Leader No. of
candidates		 Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Status
No. ± Share No. Share No. Share
2021 Makoto Sakurai
0 / 480
 0 11th 33,661 0.06% 9,449 0.02% Extra-parliamentary

House of Councillors
House of Councillors
Election Leader Seats Position Constituency Party list Status
Won ± Share Total[lower-alpha 1] Number  % Number  %
2022 Makoto Sakurai
0 / 125
 0%
0 / 248
 15th 74,097 0.14% 109,046 0.21% Extra-parliamentary

Tokyo Gubernatorial
Election Candidate Result
Votes  %
2020 Makoto Sakurai Lost 178,784 2.92

See also

Notes
  1. The Upper house is split in two classes, one elected every three years.

References
  1. Wang, Tim; Harris, Johnny (1 June 2017). "Japan's rising right-wing nationalism". Vox. Retrieved 5 June 2017. the nationalist sentiments that his party embodies
  2. Sieg, Linda (2 November 2018). "Japan aims to open door wider to blue-collar workers". Reuters. Retrieved 4 April 2021. The tiny nationalist "Japan First Party" has protested against the changes for reasons such as fears foreigners would inflate welfare rolls and crime rates, it says on its website.
  3. Patrick Heinrich, Yumiko Ohara, ed. (2019). Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics. Routledge. ISBN 9781351818391. Makoto Sakurai of the ultranationalist Japan First Party has been involved in numerous anti-Korean demonstrations, and he also ran for the Tokyo mayor election in 2016.
  4. Shaw, Vivian (12 March 2017). "How Fukushima gave rise to a new anti-racism movement". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 5 June 2017. Though only a fifth place ranking, and slightly less than two percent of the popular vote, Sakurai went on to found the far-right Japan First Party the following month.
  5. Denyer, Simon (19 November 2018). "Aging Japan needs new blood. But a plan to allow more foreign workers sparks concerns". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2021. The far-right Japan First party held rallies across Japan in October protesting Abe's plan, although the demonstrators were often outnumbered by activists accusing them of racism and hate speech.
  6. The Moment Sakurai Announces New Party. Retrieved 2017-1-23.
  7. 元在特会会長が「新党」 桜井誠氏、「日本第一党」立ち上げ [Former Chairman of the Special Association launches "New Party" Makoto Sakurai, "Japan First Party"]. J-CASTニュース. 2016-08-30.
  8. Saigusa, Gentaro (February 26, 2017). 桜井誠氏が日本第一党を結党 「政権を取ったら韓国と断交する」 仇敵、神奈川新聞の石橋学記者に向かって「北朝鮮の批判をしてもヘイトかい？」 [Makoto Sakurai Forms the Japan First Party "If we get the power we will break ties with South Korea" To rival Kanagawa Shimbun journalist Manabu Ishibashi "Is it also hate if we criticize North Korea?"]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). Tokyo. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  9. 日本第一党 都議選に元日本郵政社員の新人を擁立 結党以来初の公認 移民政策反対、外国人生活保護支給停止など公約 [Japan First Party Supports Former Japan Postal Service Employee Novice in Tokyo Legislature Election. First Official Recognition Since Founding of Party. Anti-Immigration, a Stop to Welfare for Foreigners in Policies.]. Yamato Press (in Japanese). April 28, 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  10. Japan First Party (April 27, 2017). "- YouTube" 【2017/4/27】岡村幹雄：日本第一党公認候補予定者発表記者会見【日本第一党】 [(April 27, 2017) Mikio Okamura: Japan First Party Officially Recognized Planned Candidate Announcement Press Conference (Japan First Party)]. YouTube (in Japanese). Japan First Party. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  11. 日本第一党政策 [Japan First Party Policies] (in Japanese). Japan First Party. August 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  12. Patrik Hermansson; David Lawrence; Joe Mulhall, eds. (2020). The International Alt-Right: Fascism for the 21st Century?. Routledge.
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