Reiwa Shinsengumi

Reiwa Shinsengumi (Japanese: れいわ新選組) is a left-wing populist[lower-alpha 1][2][3] and progressive[1] political party in Japan founded by actor-turned-politician Tarō 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.[12] 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.[13]

Reiwa Shinsengumi
れいわ新選組
LeaderTarō Yamamoto
Founded1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
Split fromLiberal Party
Headquarters1F, Akasaka-Kōei Bldg. 3-2-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
IdeologyProgressivism[1]
Left-wing populism[2][3]
Political positionLeft-wing[4][5][6]
Colors  Pink[7][8]
Councillors
2 / 245
Representatives
3 / 465
Website
reiwa-shinsengumi.com

The party is variously described as being anti-austerity, anti-establishment, anti-capitalist,[3][14][15] and anti-nuclear power[16] as well as supporting animal welfare,[16] disability rights,[16] and economic interventionism.[17]

History

Founding

Tarō 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.[12] On 10 April, Yamamoto held a press conference and announced the party's platform.[18]

2019 House of Councillors election

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. Although nearly one million votes were cast for Yamamoto personally, since the party had nominated Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura, both of whom have disabilities,[19] ahead of him in the party list, Yamamoto did not win a seat.[20] 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

Party leader Tarō 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.[21]

2021 Japanese general election

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.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24][25]

There are 20 other candidates besides Yamamoto, running under the Reiwa Shinsengumi banner. One of them is Takashi Takai, who withdrew from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan after an allegation of sexual harassment. 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.[26]

Policies

In a press conference held shortly after the founding of the party, 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.[27] In addition, he said that the party is against the construction of the Henoko base. They would also 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.[28]

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.

Leadership
Position Name
Leader Tarō Yamamoto
Vice leaders Yasuhiko Funago
Eiko Kimura
Source:

Leader
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 Tarō Yamamoto
(b. 1974)		 None
(Cou for Tokyo
until 21 July 2019)		 1 April 2019 Incumbent
2019
Unopposed
 Abe S. 2012–2020
Suga 2020–2021
Kishida 2021–present

Election results

General election results
Election Leader Candidates Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Government
No. ± Share Number  % Number  %
2021 Tarō Yamamoto 21
3 / 465
 0.6% 7th 248,280 0.43% 2,215,648 3.86% Opposition

House of Councillors election results
Election Leader Candidates Seats Nationwide Prefecture Status
Total Won Votes  % Votes  %
2019 Tarō Yamamoto 10
2 / 245
2 / 124
 2,280,252 4.6 214,438 0.4 Opposition

Tokyo gubernatorial election results
Election Candidate Votes % Finishing place
2020 Tarō Yamamoto 657,277 10.72 3

Tokyo prefectural election results
Election Votes % Seats
2021 37,299 0.80 0

See also

Notes
  1. This party is sometimes considered a "liberal-populist" party,[9] and the main supporters of this party are also left-liberals.[10][11]

References
  1. Brasor, Philip (20 July 2019). "Citizen campaigns seek to increase voter turnout in Upper House election". The Japan Times. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. Minami, Daisuke (2 August 2019). "Is Populism Finally Coming to Japan?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  4. Thisanka Siripala (6 August 2019). "Japan's Upper House Election Results A Win for Diversity". The Diplomat. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  5. Daisuke Minami (2 August 2019). "Is Populism Finally Coming to Japan?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  6. "Japan's first severely disabled lawmakers join parliament". BBC News. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  7. 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. The 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（４５）。「好きだから」（山本さん）と、２０１９年の結党以来、党のロゴにも使い続ける。
  8. 【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、...
  9. 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, ...
  10. 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).
  11. 山本太郎、涙のシーン求めるマスコミに... 泣き笑いで「敗戦の弁」 [Taro Yamamoto, in the media looking for a scene of tears... "The valve of defeat" with a tearful smile.]. J-CAST (in Japanese). 5 July 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  12. "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.
  13. 「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.
  14. "Reiwa Shinsengumi makes splash in Japanese election debut, giving voice to people with disabilities". The Japan Times. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  15. "Man with Lou Gehrig's disease wins seat in Japan's parliament for 1st time". Kyodo News. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  16. 政策 れいわ新選組. reiwa-shinsengumi.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  17. 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;
  18. 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 (in Japanese). 12 April 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  19. Funago with ALS and Kimura with cerebral palsy
  20. "Reiwa Shinsengumi makes splash in Japanese election debut, giving voice to people with disabilities". 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  21. Submission, Internal (15 June 2020). "Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto to run for Tokyo governor". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  22. Johnston, Eric (13 October 2021). "Major opposition parties in Japan unite in attempt to dislodge LDP". The Japan Times. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  23. 「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：朝日新聞デジタル. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  24. 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). Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  25. Kitami, Hideki. "Opposition leader does about-face after backlash". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  26. れいわ、立民除籍の高井氏を擁立 衆院選滋賀３区｜社会｜地域のニュース｜京都新聞. 京都新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  27. 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.
  28. "Reiwa Shinsengumi - Policies". Retrieved 23 July 2019.
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