MAGA-style anti-globalist politics arrives in Japan

Tokyo, Japan --- Populist ideals are gaining traction in Japan, spurred by right- wing politicians running rampant elsewhere railing against “elitism,” “globalism” and immigration.

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While Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s coalition lost its upper house majority in an election on Sunday, the “Japanese first” Sanseito party, created only five years ago, increased its seats from two to 15.

Sanseito’s agenda comes straight from the copybook of right-wing movements such as US President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again”, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Nigel Farage’s Reform party in Britain.

This includes “stricter rules and limits” on immigration and foreign capital, opposition to “globalism” and “radical” gender policies, and a rethink on decarbonization and vaccines, and pesticide-free agriculture.