Скачать или смотреть Anti-foreigner sentiments - and politicians - are on the rise as Japan faces a population crisis

(2 Oct 2025)

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER:4607664

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yokohama, Japan - 15 September 2025
1. Wide of supporters gathered to listen to a rally by Japan's nationalist party Sanseito 
2. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Sohei Kamiya, leader of Sanseito: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT ++
"Sanseito gains its popularity because we say the obvious in an obvious way. Let's do the politics that people are asking for. That is what I call, 'Japanese First'. The total opposite to 'Japanese First' is 'Globalism First'. Caring too much for what has been decided somewhere out there and how foreign companies will benefit has brought the decline in economics and population in Japan, which lead to the foreign workers crisis."
3. Supporters applauding
4. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Sohei Kamiya, leader of Sanseito: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT ++
"I am saying the priority is wrong. Why do the foreigners come first, when people in Japan are having difficulties to make ends meet and suffering from fear?"
5. Supporters cheering 
6. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) No name given, Sanseito supporter: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT7++
"Foreigners who have come to Japan recently have no respect for the country but came as cheap labour. I don't believe they bring any good to Japan and that's why I agree to most of the things Kamiya says. I support him and the party."
7. Supporters cheering 

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo - 18 September 2025
++VIDEO CALL QUALITY++
8. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Toshihiro Menju, professor at Kansai University of International Studies: ++SOUNDBITE IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 9-10++
"There is an image of foreigners in Japan which is getting fixated - cheap labour, no interest in learning the language, and their children drop out from school. Once they create their own community, it leads to a rise in crime rates. Via internet and Sanseito that message get amplified, leaving no-one with positive images of foreigners."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo - 15 September 2025
9. (STILL)Sohei Kamiya, leader of a surging nationalist party Sanseito, speaks at a campaign rally in Yokohama, near Tokyo (Image ID: 25259033675177)

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo - 13 July 2025
10. (STILL)Demonstrators take part in a 'protest rave' against racism and nationalist party Sanseito ahead of the upper house election in the Shinkuku district of Tokyo (Image ID: 25274408682600)
STORYLINE:
Outside a train station near Tokyo, hundreds of people cheer as Sohei Kamiya, head of the surging nationalist party Sanseito, criticises Japan’s rapidly growing foreign population.

As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense.

Sanseito, while still a minor party, made big gains in July’s parliamentary election, and Kamiya's "Japanese First" platform of anti-globalism, anti-immigration and anti-liberalism is gaining broader traction ahead of a ruling party vote Saturday that will choose the likely next prime minister. 

Anti-immigrant policies, which allow populists to vent their dissatisfaction on easy targets, are appealing to more Japanese as they struggle with dwindling salaries, rising prices and bleak future outlooks.

The populist surge comes as Japan, a traditionally insular nation that values conformity and uniformity, sees a record surge of foreigners needed to bolster its shrinking workforce.




Kamiya said the government was allowing foreign workers into the country without numerical limits only to benefit big Japanese businesses.


















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