Wikipedia

Reiwa Shinsengumi

Reiwa Shinsengumi (Japanese: れいわ新選組) is a progressive[6][7] and left-wing populist[8][9] political party in Japan founded by actor-turned-politician Taro Yamamoto in April 2019. The party was formed by left-wing members of the Liberal Party who opposed its merger with the Democratic Party for the People.[10] The party won more than 4% of the vote after contesting the House of Councilors election in July 2019, gaining two seats only about three and a half months after the formation of the party.[11]

Reiwa Shinsengumi
れいわ新選組
Secretary-GeneralTakashi Takai
Co-leadersTaro Yamamoto
Akiko Oishi
Mari Kushibuchi
FounderTaro Yamamoto
Founded1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
Split fromLiberal Party
Headquarters1F, Akasaka-Kōei Bldg. 3-2-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
IdeologyProgressivism
Left-wing populism
Political positionLeft-wing[1]
Colors  Pink[2][3]
Slogan「日本を守る」とは、「あなたを守る」ことから始まる
Nihon wo mamoru to ha anata wo mamoru kotokara hajimaru
("Protecting Japan starts with protecting you")[4]
Councillors
5 / 248
Representatives
9 / 465
Prefectural assembly members
0 / 2,644
Municipal assembly members[5]
54 / 29,135
Website
reiwa-shinsengumi.com

History

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Founding

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Taro Yamamoto, a member of the House of Councillors for Tokyo, founded the party on 1 April 2019. This was with the intent of standing multiple candidates, including himself, in the upcoming House of Councillors election later in the year.[10] On 10 April, Yamamoto held a press conference and announced the party's platform.[12]

2019 House of Councillors election

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The party stood multiple candidates in the 2019 House of Councillors election. The party won 2.2 million votes in the national PR block, exceeding the 2% threshold needed to be recognised as a political party, and securing two seats. Nearly one million votes were cast for Yamamoto personally; however, because the party had nominated Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura, both of whom have disabilities,[13] ahead of him in the party list, Yamamoto did not win a seat.[14] The National Diet Building was adapted to allow barrier-free access for wheelchair users.

Notable party members include university professor Ayumi Yasutomi and former deputy representative of the North Korean abduction liaison Toru Hasuike.

2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election

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Yamamoto was one of the 22 candidates participating in the 2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election, coming in third place with 10.72% of the votes. The party promises included a direct cash handout programme due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]

2021 Japanese general election

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Yamamoto joined with the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japanese Communist Party, and Social Democratic Party in running a joint opposition coalition based on common policy goals.[16] Yamamoto, who had been formerly running in Tokyo's 8th district, withdrew to run in the Tokyo PR block to avoid vote splitting against the CDP's Harumi Yoshida. The withdrawal came following pushback from local residents, who were hesitant to vote for Yamamoto, a "parachute candidate," over Yoshida, who had been active within the community for many years prior.[17] The party further withdrew 7 candidates as part of the joint platform to avoid vote splitting between the opposition parties, accounting for 40% of Reiwa Shinsengumi's planned slate of candidates.[18][19]

There are 20 other candidates besides Yamamoto, running under the Reiwa Shinsengumi banner. One of them is Takashi Takai, who was expelled from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan after ignoring COVID-19 state of emergency laws.[20] Takai is Reiwa Shinsengumi's only sitting legislator, formerly elected on the CDP list for the Chūgoku proportional representation block. Takai will be running at Shiga Prefecture's 3rd District.[21]

2022 House of Councillors election

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Yamamoto announced his resignation from the House of Representatives seat to which he was elected in 2021 general election, and contested in Tokyo metropolitan constituency for the House of Councillors.[22] Reiwa gained three seats in the election: Yamamoto winning a seat in Tokyo, along with two other candidates who took up seats in the nationwide proportional representation block.[23][24]

Ideology and policies

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Reiwa Shinsengumi has been described as progressive,[6][7] left-wing populist,[8][9] and sits on the left of the left–right political spectrum.[1] Some scholars classify the party's views as radical left-wing.[25] Eder-Ramsauer and Matsutani describe Reiwa Shinsengumi as an eclectic left-wing populist party that blends emancipatory radical democratic politics with an openness to communitarian ideas whilst opposing neoliberalism.[26] On the other hand, Axel Klein, who takes an ideational approach, writes that the party does not meet the criteria that define (left) populism.[27]

The party is variously described as being anti-austerity, anti-establishment,[9][28][29] and anti-nuclear power[30] as well as supporting animal welfare,[30] minority rights,[30][31] and economic interventionism.[32] The party is sometimes considered a "liberal-populist" party,[33] and the main supporters of this party are also left-liberals.[34][35]

In a press conference held shortly after the founding of the party in 2019, Yamamoto announced that his party would push for the abolition of the consumption tax and instead, make the corporation tax a progressive tax and increase government bonds.[36] In addition, he said that the party is against the construction of the Henoko base. In 2019, the party also said it would: ban nuclear power entirely, raise the minimum wage to ¥1,500 per hour with public guarantee, implement laws protecting free education, disability rights, LGBT rights, animal rights, institute a basic income of ¥30,000 (circa $283 as of September 2020) per person per month whenever inflation is below 2% (benefits would end whenever inflation is not below the threshold and resume if it goes below again), and reinforce social services.[37]

The party has announced that it would reverse/abolish many of the laws that were revised or passed by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe if elected, including the pre-emptive anti-terrorism law such as martial law State Secrecy Law and the 2015 Japanese military legislation.[citation needed]

Leader

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No. Name
(Birth–death) 		Constituency / title Term of office Election results Image Prime Minister (term)
Took office Left office
Split from: a part of Liberal Party (2016) (centre-left)
1 Taro Yamamoto
(b. 1974) 		Cou for Tokyo
(21 July 2013 – 21 July 2019 and 25 July 2022 – present)
Rep for Tokyo PR block
(31 October 2021 – 15 April 2022) 		1 April 2019 Incumbent
2019
Unopposed
2022
Taro Yamamoto – 8.83
Mari Kushibuchi and Akiko Oishi – 4.36
Tsunehira Furuya – 3.81
   Abe S. 2012–2020
Suga 2020–2021
Kishida 2021–2024
Ishiba 2024–present

Election results

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House of Representatives

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Election Leader Candidates Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Government
No. ± Share Number % Number %
2021 Taro Yamamoto 21
3 / 465
 new 0.6% 7th 248,280 0.43% 2,215,648 3.86% Opposition
2024 35
9 / 465
   6 1.9%   6th 425,445 0.78% 3,805,060 6.98% Opposition

House of Councillors

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Election Leader Candidates Seats Nationwide Prefecture Status
Total Won Votes % Votes %
2019 Taro Yamamoto 10
2 / 245
2 / 124
 2,280,252 4.6 214,438 0.4 Opposition
2022 14
5 / 248
3 / 125
 2,319,157 4.4 989,716 1.9 Opposition

Tokyo gubernatorial

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Election Candidate Votes % Finishing place Result
2020 Taro Yamamoto 657,277 10.72 3rd Lost

Tokyo prefectural

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Election Leader Votes % Seats
2021 Taro Yamamoto 37,299 0.80
0 / 127

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b
    • Thisanka Siripala (6 August 2019). "Japan's Upper House Election Results A Win for Diversity". The Diplomat. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
    • Daisuke Minami (2 August 2019). "Is Populism Finally Coming to Japan?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
    • "Japan's first severely disabled lawmakers join parliament". BBC News. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  2. ^ 色もいろいろ東京都知事選 候補者が「イメージカラー」に込めた思いは [In the Tokyo gubernatorial election, candidates express their intentions through their chosen "image colors"]. Tokyo Shimbun (in Japanese). 26 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020. "ピンクをイメージカラーにするのは、れいわ新選組代表の山本太郎さん ... 2019年の結党以来、党のロゴにも使い続ける。" [Reiwa Shinsengumi's leader, Taro Yamamoto, chooses pink as their signature color ... they have been using it consistently in the party's logo since its founding in 2019.]
  3. ^ 【野党ウオッチ】異色の戦法「れいわ新選組」際立つパフォーマンス. The Sankei News (in Japanese). 20 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020. 会場の広場にはれいわ新選組のシンボルカラーであるピンクの幟（のぼり）が林立し、...
  4. ^ "れいわ新選組のチラシ" (in Japanese). れいわ新選組. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  5. ^ "地方公共団体の議会の議員及び長の所属党派別人員調等（令和５年１２月３１日現在）" (PDF). 総務省. 10 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b Robert J. Pekkanen; Steven R. Reed; Daniel M. Smith, eds. (2023). Japan Decides 2021: The Japanese General Election. Springer Nature. p. 65. ISBN 9783031113246. Reiwa Shinsengumi is usually viewed as a progressive populist party.
  7. ^ a b Brasor, Philip (20 July 2019). "Citizen campaigns seek to increase voter turnout in Upper House election". The Japan Times. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  8. ^ a b
  9. ^ a b c Minami, Daisuke (2 August 2019). "Is Populism Finally Coming to Japan?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b "山本太郎氏「れいわ新選組」設立 「この国の人々、お守りいたす」". The Sankei News (in Japanese). 10 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  11. ^ 「れいわ新選組」山本太郎氏が立ち上げ 野党結集が狙い. Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  12. ^ 山本太郎・参院議員が新党『れいわ新選組』を結党 消費税廃止を公約に [House of Councillors member Taro Yamamoto founds a new party called "Reiwa Shinsengumi" with a pledge to abolish the consumption tax] (in Japanese). 12 April 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  13. ^ Funago with ALS and Kimura with cerebral palsy
  14. ^ "Reiwa Shinsengumi makes splash in Japanese election debut, giving voice to people with disabilities". 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  15. ^ Submission, Internal (15 June 2020). "Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto to run for Tokyo governor". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  16. ^ Johnston, Eric (13 October 2021). "Major opposition parties in Japan unite in attempt to dislodge LDP". The Japan Times. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  17. ^ 「山本太郎氏に鼻をつまんで投票しない」 東京8区で街頭抗議 [Protesters in Tokyo 8th district vow not to vote for Taro Yamamoto]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 10 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  18. ^ れいわ・山本太郎氏 ドタバタ比例立候補で失った「山本太郎」の名前…無効票危惧（東スポWeb）. Yahoo! News Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  19. ^ Kitami, Hideki. "Opposition leader does about-face after backlash". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  20. ^ "CDP lawmaker expelled from party over hostess bar visit amid emergency". The Japan Times. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  21. ^ れいわ、立民除籍の高井氏を擁立 衆院選滋賀３区 [Reiwa [Shinsengumi] nominates Takai, who was expelled from the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), as their candidate for the Shiga 3rd district in the House of Representatives election]. Kyoto Shimbun (in Japanese). 5 October 2021. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Japan party leader Taro Yamamoto resigns from lower house, sets sights on upper chamber". Mainichi Daily News. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  23. ^ "参院選 東京 選挙速報・開票結果【随時更新】". 読売新聞オンライン (in Japanese). 22 June 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  24. ^ "LDP, Constitutional Revisionists Strong in 2022 Upper House Election". nippon.com. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  25. ^ Mizushima, Jiro (18 July 2022). "ポピュリズムが支持される理由" [Why populism is gaining support]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 July 2022. ... れいわ新選組のような急進左派的な主張を掲げる新しい政党が支持を集めてきており ... [... On the other hand, new political parties with radical left views, such as Reiwa Shinsengumi, are gaining support ...]
  26. ^ "Varieties of Populism in Japan Reiwa Shinsengumi". Taylor & Francis eBooks. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  27. ^ Klein, Axel (15 May 2020). "Is There Left Populism In Japan? The Case Of Reiwa Shinsengumi". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  28. ^ "Reiwa Shinsengumi makes splash in Japanese election debut, giving voice to people with disabilities". The Japan Times. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  29. ^ "Man with Lou Gehrig's disease wins seat in Japan's parliament for 1st time". Kyodo News. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  30. ^ a b c 政策 れいわ新選組. reiwa-shinsengumi.com (in Japanese). 11 July 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  31. ^ NEWS, KYODO. "New anti-establishment political group makes big strides in Japan". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  32. ^ Blondy, Théophile (21 July 2019). "Le Reiwa Shinsengumi un parti " populiste "". Le Petit Journal (in French). Retrieved 26 July 2019. Le programme appelle directement et sur presque tous les sujets à un interventionnisme plus marqué de l'Etat;
  33. ^ Helen Hardacre; Timothy S. George; Keigo Komamura; Franziska Seraphim, eds. (2021). Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 136. ISBN 9781793609052. ... Sometimes regarded as a "liberal-populist" party, a new political party, Reiwa Shinsengumi, arose in a "riot" of people who believed they have been marginalized by Japanese capitalism and democracy.26 The party's charismatic leader, ...
  34. ^ "El PLD del asesinado Shinzo Abe logra una holgada victoria en los comicios en Japón" [Murdered Shinzo Abe's LDP Achieves a Hollow Victory in Commissions in Japan]. El HuffPost (in Spanish). 11 July 2022. El Partido Comunista de Japón ha logrado en estos comicios 4 escaños, que junto a los que ya tenía en la otra mitad suman 11; y el liberal Reiwa Shinsengumi (liberal), 3 asientos, hasta sumar 5, según los resultados divulgados. El resto de escaños se han repartido entre partidos minoritarios y candidatos independientes. [The Communist Party of Japan has won 4 seats in these elections, which together with those it already had in the other half add up to 11; and the liberal Reiwa Shinsengumi (liberal), 3 seats, up to a total of 5, according to the published results. The rest of the seats have been distributed between minority parties and independent candidates.]
  35. ^ Helen Hardacre; Timothy S. George; Keigo Komamura; Franziska Seraphim, eds. (2021). Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 86. ISBN 9781793609052. Reiwa Shinsengumi—a new party formed after the 2019 House of Councillors' election, single-handedly carrying the hopes of left-wing liberals—and the Communist Party jointly demanded "protection of Article 9 as is" (kyūjō goken).
  36. ^ れいわ旋風で読めぬ「ステルス票」与野党は戦々恐々 (in Japanese). 16 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  37. ^ "Reiwa Shinsengumi – Policies". Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
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