CRANKS COME IN FROM COLD

RIGHTWARDS LURCH OF NEW PM INSPIRES FRINGE PATRIOTIC ELEMENTS

- STORY: TOMOHIRO OSAKI / AFP

Members of the ultra-nationalist group Taikosha bowing during a prayer ritual at Yasukuni shrine on the 84th anniversary of Japan's Pearl Harbor attack, before leaving for a rally in Tokyo.

Driving around Tokyo blaring slogans on the 84th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, ultra-nationalist outfit Taikosha only has around 100 mostly male, middle-aged members.

But the recent rightwards lurch of mainstream politics under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi means that suddenly some parts of their patriotic messaging no longer seem quite so fringe.

Since being elected in October, the conservative Ms Takaichi has picked a fight with China, is preparing tough new rules on foreigners, and wants to outlaw desecration of the Japanese flag.

The anti-immigration Sanseito Party has also done well in elections with its “Japanese first” slogan and admiration for Donald Trump's “Make America Great Again” campaign and other populist movements.

Taikosha members, marching somewhat out-of-step in military-style uniforms on Monday at the Yasukuni shrine honouring Japan’s war dead, said that politicians are stealing their ideas.

“We're a bunch with the courage of our convictions. We're not at all like these people jumping on the populist bandwagon,’ campaign chief Naoto Ozawa told AFP.