Japan's far-right Sanseito party has set up an international arm to court Trump allies such as Steve Bannon and like-minded groups in Europe, betting that global conservative recognition will help it shake up staid Japanese politics, according to four party officials.
Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and the perceived influence of global elites, Sanseito broke into mainstream politics in a July election with fiery warnings about foreigners.
Now, as Japan's long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party picks a new leader to steady its shaky administration, Sanseito is seeking to raise its international profile to lend credibility to its challenge for power and influence.
"It's clear that we no longer live in an era where Japan can determine its course alone," party leader Sohei Kamiya told Reuters in an interview. "So we want to get our message out abroad first," he said, adding that this would help circumvent what he considers a pro-establishment domestic media.
To spearhead this effort, the party established an international division in Tokyo in September to accelerate a strategy of engaging with people in President Donald Trump's orbit and European right-wing figures, according to Kamiya and three other Sanseito officials as well as U.S. disclosure documents.
Details of Sanseito's global outreach, some of which predates the international division, haven't been previously reported.
The strategy marks a step change for Japan's otherwise insular far-right politics and may give Sanseito staying power where other challengers have failed, said Jeffrey Hall, an academic specializing in Japanese politics at Kanda University.
"A lot of what Sanseito talk about is about how immigration has destroyed other countries in the world. By meeting with figures who are saying those things in the West and being recognized by them, it does help Kamiya stand out," he said.
Japan's foreign resident population hit a record 3.8 million last year, which at 3% of the total is far lower than in the United States or western Europe.
Nevertheless, Sanseito's warnings of a "silent invasion" resonated with some voters angry about rising living costs in July's upper house election, catapulting the party's tally in the 248-seat chamber to 15 seats from one previously.
The LDP and its coalition partner lost their majority, leading Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign.
A September 8 poll by public broadcaster NHK showed Sanseito is now Japan's most popular opposition party, leading the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.
Sanseito aims to win 30 to 40 seats in the next lower-house election, to add to three currently, giving it enough members to submit bills and possibly enter a power-sharing arrangement, Kamiya said.
He hopes that whoever wins the LDP leadership race on October 4 - likely either hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi or the more-moderate Shinjiro Koizumi - will call a snap election to test public appetite for their premiership.
Koizumi told Reuters he would engage with all opposition parties, but if elected he had no plans "at this time" to call an election. Takaichi's office said she wasn't available to comment.
OUTREACH TO KIRK, BANNON, CARLSON
An oft-cited Japanese proverb warns that "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down" - meaning those who break from the norm are criticized or pressured to conform.
But international recognition can help Kamiya avoid that fate, said Sen Yamanaka, a U.S.-educated former banker turned Sanseito lawmaker who heads the party's new international arm.
That is one reason the party arranged for U.S. influencer Charlie Kirk, who played a key role in driving youth support for Trump, to speak at an event in Tokyo in September. Kirk was fatally shot less than a week later.
Appearing alongside Kamiya at a packed conference hall, Kirk said it wasn't too late for Japan to avoid the mass migration ruining the West, said Yamanaka, who represented Sanseito at Kirk's memorial in Arizona. Turning Point USA, the advocacy group Kirk founded, didn't respond to a request for comment.
Sanseito had been in talks for Kamiya to appear at Kirk's year-end America Fest conference, headlined by Trump in 2024, Yamanaka said. Kamiya added that the party plans to invite prominent right-wing voices from France, Germany and Britain to conferences in Japan this year and next.
Kamiya also asked to appear on podcast shows hosted by Bannon, Trump's former strategist, and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in 2024, according to U.S. public disclosures submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Matthew Braynard, a former Trump campaign staffer, submitted the requests on Kamiya's behalf, the disclosures show. Braynard told Reuters he helped the party on a voluntary basis and wasn't paid.
More recently, Bannon's show requested an interview with Kamiya after the July election but that didn't materialize due to scheduling conflicts, the Sanseito leader said.
Bannon told Reuters he's "working to get him on." "This could be a revolutionary force in Japanese politics," he said.
Carlson told Reuters he supported Sanseito's efforts to restrict immigration, seeing it as key to protecting Japanese culture. He said he wanted to connect with Kamiya and would "have my guys call him right now."
In August, Kamiya met with the co-head of Germany's far-right AfD party in Tokyo and said he received a message of encouragement for Sanseito's policies. AfD didn't respond to a request for comment.
MAGA WITH JAPANESE CHARACTERISTICS
Kamiya said he would welcome the chance to meet Trump, who has defied protocol previously to meet with like-minded opposition figures. He hosted Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at the Oval Office in September, while Vice President JD Vance met AfD's leader in Germany this year. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
Like Trump, Kamiya has stirred controversy with his remarks. He has criticized gender-equality policies for keeping women from having children, blamed the increase in foreigners for stagnant Japanese wages, and used a slur against Japan's ethnic Korean population - a comment for which he later apologized.
Sanseito's "Japanese First" slogan riffs off Trump's "America First" mantra.
But Kamiya stressed his party "are not Trump worshippers," criticizing the president's trade policies and saying he would have rejected the "unfair" $550 billion investment program Japan agreed to in exchange for tariff relief.
Sanseito also faces a distinctly Japanese quandary of how to upend the status quo in a society that prizes politeness and consensus.
That means a less-confrontational style of politics than Trump's to "shift Japan's political direction" without pushing "wacky" or extreme policies, Kamiya said.
"Japanese value harmony and place an importance on getting broad, gradual consensus — I do, too," he added.
