Sanseito forces Japan to confront its quiet divisions

Abstract

Japan’s 20 July 2025 Upper House election saw the nationalist Sanseito secure 14 new seats, turning long-ignored voters into a political force. Mobilising the politically disengaged, especially the economically insecure ‘employment ice age’ generation, Sanseito leveraged social media and nationalist rhetoric to amplify Japan’s social and economic divisions. While Japan remains far from US-style polarisation, this breakthrough exposes growing fractures and raises questions about whether Sanseito will follow a moderate European populist path or a more confrontational far-right trajectory.