Beware of xenophobia!

We will not tolerate discrimination 
against foreigners 
in Japan's House of Councillors election.

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Will You Still Choose Sanseito?

Tansa, as a news organization, opposes Sanseito. We declare this to protect fundamental human rights and democracy.

When we look back at historical catastrophes from the future, there are turning points where we realize, "that was the moment to stand firm." Beyond that point, society plunges into a downward spiral, leading to numerous casualties. This is such a turning point.

As the House of Councillors election voting day approaches, the Sanseito party is gaining momentum. Now is that "moment to stand firm." We want to stop the rise of Sanseito.

Similarities to "Mein Kampf"

Sanseito advocates "Japanese First." In Sanseito Drill (Seirindo), co-authored and edited by Representative Soshu Kamiya, there is the following passage:

"We should cherish the Japanese bloodline passed down from ancestors to descendants."

There have been politicians in the past who emphasized bloodlines. One such figure was Adolf Hitler. Hitler believed that the failure to protect the Germanic bloodline was the root of all evil. In his book Mein Kampf (translated by Ichiro Hirano and Shigeru Shozumi, Kadokawa Bunko), he states:

"The poison of blood that afflicted our national body not only led our blood to decomposition, but also led our spirit to dissolution. The borders of our homeland were open, and non-Germanic foreign peoples resided in the territory of the German Reich... especially the strong influx of foreign blood into the German Reich itself to this day."

Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in the 1920s. Approximately 20 years later, Nazi Germany brought about the worst catastrophe in human history, including the massacre of Jews.

When bloodline-based ideology is combined with xenophobia, it causes severe harm. Does Sanseito not harbor this danger?

The danger of Sanseito also lies in its beautification of past sacrifices.

On Sanseito's special election website, kamikaze pilots are listed as "heroes who devoted their efforts to protect Japan." The party's message is, "Before Japan is further destroyed, Sanseito believes it is our turn, the ordinary citizens, to fight next."

Those in power, from a safe position, ordered operations that traded lives for a future that should have belonged to young people. At that point, the kamikaze pilots were victims.

Kamiya, in emphasizing the importance of learning history and having one's own philosophy, states, "When you get down to it, the soul is more important than one's life, and many people are born who risk their lives to refine it" (Sanseito, Wakening the Nation's Sleep, Seirindo Visual). Does he also believe that the deaths of kamikaze pilots were a result of valuing their souls more than their lives?

We believe that those who live in the future can only repay past victims by ensuring that no one is forced into discrimination or war again.

When the Magma Erupts

The rise of Sanseito is occurring against a backdrop of political dysfunction.

The era once known as "Golden Country Zipangu" or "100 Million Middle Class" was 40 years ago. The number of non-regular employees has increased, and the disparity with regular employees of large corporations has widened. If parental income is low, attending university with scholarships means a burden of debt after graduation. The social infrastructure supporting childcare and elder care is fragile, leaving only anxiety about raising children and life in old age... While politicians are steeped in corruption and desperate for self-preservation, Japanese society is crumbling audibly. In such a situation, it's natural for a magma of anger to simmer in Japanese society.

Then Sanseito appears. It denounces existing parties and preaches that Japanese people should be prioritized over foreigners. It calls for the improvement of safe medicine and food to support livelihoods. It's no wonder that the public applauds and the magma erupts to the surface. Once the magma erupts, the veracity of information becomes less important. Public opinion spirals out of control.

The rise of Nazi Germany was also fueled by economic exhaustion after World War I. While Hitler was a dictator, it was the people themselves who propelled him to power by supporting the Nazis through elections.

No matter how much dissatisfaction fills society, misdirecting that energy can lead to terrible consequences.

As Practitioners of Journalism

Japanese newspapers and television are not functioning adequately in the face of Sanseito's rise.

Following the 2024 Hyogo Prefectural Governor's election, where disinformation was rampant, they should have reflected on not being overly confined by "excessive impartiality" during elections and criticizing what needed to be criticized. The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association even issued a "Statement on the Internet and Election Reporting" on June 12, 2025. Still, there is a scarcity of reports directly criticizing Sanseito's claims and falsehoods.

Tansa, as an organization that practices journalism, opposes the rise of Sanseito. This is because a democratic society, centered on the value of fundamental human rights, was built through countless sacrifices throughout history and across cultures, and we want to protect this society. And as members of the same society, we ask the voters in the House of Councillors election on July 20, 2025:

"Will you still choose Sanseito?"

July 17, 2025

Tokyo Investigative Newsroom Tansa

https://tansajp.org/investigativejournal/12205/

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NGO Emergency Joint Statement Against the Incitement of Xenophobia in the House of Councillors Election

July 8, 2025

We are NGOs dedicated to human rights issues concerning foreigners, refugees, and ethnic minorities.

Xenophobia, which demonizes foreigners and people with foreign roots, is rapidly expanding in Japanese society. A survey conducted by NHK and others last month revealed that 64.0% of respondents answered "strongly agree" or "somewhat agree" to the question, "Are foreigners excessively favored in Japanese society?" (1)

Hate speech and hate crimes against foreigners and people with foreign roots continue unabated. For example, since the summer of 2023, hate demonstrations and street campaigns against Kurdish people residing in southern Saitama Prefecture have occurred almost every month, and the internet is severely flooded with a massive amount of hate speech daily.

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in June, hate speech such as "Japanese First" was used as part of election campaigns. Furthermore, candidates with foreign roots were attacked with hate speech, including being called "traitors."

In the upcoming House of Councillors election, various parties are competing to incite xenophobia, with slogans such as "Zero Illegal Foreigners" and "Review of Foreigner Preference Policies." The government has also launched a "Zero Irregular Migrants" policy, citing a "social situation where the safety and security of the public are threatened by foreigners who do not follow rules."

However, the claim that "foreigners are favored" is a completely baseless rumor. Japan does not even have a basic law guaranteeing human rights for foreigners, nor do they have the right to vote. Becoming public servants or receiving public assistance are not legally recognized rights. Claims that foreigners are favored in medical care, pensions, national health insurance, or scholarship systems are also untrue. The term "illegal foreigner" directly links "illegal" with "foreigner," inciting prejudice that foreigners are "illegal." Regarding the term "irregular migrant," a 1975 UN General Assembly resolution requested that all official documents use terms like "irregular" (2). Policies that lump together people with various circumstances, such as refugees, who lack documents, as "illegal" or "irregular" and aim for "zero"—meaning unconditional exclusion—are themselves xenophobic.

Originally, public institutions such as the government and the National Diet are obligated under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination, including hate speech, and to implement policies for the coexistence of people from various backgrounds. When prejudice against foreigners and people with foreign roots is spreading in society, it is absolutely unacceptable for these institutions to stand with those who incite prejudice, instead of taking the lead in refuting and combating discriminatory rumors. The Ministry of Justice has also issued a notice, in accordance with the Hate Speech Elimination Act, stating that hate speech conducted under the guise of election campaigning is impermissible (3).

Hate speech, particularly the incitement of xenophobia, is extremely dangerous as it causes suffering to foreigners and people with foreign roots, incites conflict between different nationalities and ethnicities, destroys coexisting societies, and even paves the way for war.

In this election, we strongly demand that all political parties and candidates cease their xenophobic campaigns and criticize xenophobia. We also demand that the government and local authorities thoroughly publicize that hate speech during election campaigns is unacceptable. Furthermore, we appeal to voters not to be swayed by the incitement of prejudice against foreigners, and to raise their voices together to create a coexisting society where everyone, regardless of nationality or ethnicity, has their human dignity respected, is not discriminated against, and lives in peace, and to cast their votes accordingly.

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(1) NHK Web News "Verifying Widespread Information such as 'Foreigner Favoritism' and 'Dismantling the Children and Families Agency'" (June 28, 2025) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250628/k10014845481000.html

(2) Refer to the page "Let's Call Migrants and Refugees Without Residence Status 'Irregular' or 'Unregistered,' Not 'Illegal'!" on the National Network to Support Migrants' website. https://migrants.jp/news/others/230601.html

(3) Ministry of Justice "Administrative Communication" (March 12, 2019) Regarding Responses to Unjust Discriminatory Speech and Behavior in Election Campaigns, Political Activities, etc. https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001350817.pdf

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Japan Pen Club Urgent Statement

"Attacks on foreigners, filled with disinformation disguised as election campaigning, destroy our society."

We cannot stand by and watch our society be destroyed in this manner.

Through the House of Councillors election, a situation has emerged where some political parties, regardless of ruling or opposition, are competing to exclude foreigners. Moreover, they are using harsh words to treat foreigners as criminals and hindrances to society, as if doing so would improve Japanese society.

Policies that problematize foreigners are being put forward, albeit with different expressions, such as "Zero Illegal Foreigners," "Japanese First," and "Managed Foreigner Policy." Baseless and false rumors are being spread, claiming "foreigner crime is increasing," "foreigners are abusing welfare and national health insurance," and "foreign students are being favored." These are acts of verbal violence and incitement to discrimination. We can never forget the history where such disinformation and incitement to discrimination actually led to incidents like the massacre of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake.

Based on reflections on the past, we have strived for a multicultural society, and many local governments have already enacted ordinances for this purpose. We will never allow this democratic society, which has matured and progressed little by little, to regress and collapse due to "disinformation" and "discriminatory remarks" made by some politicians to gain temporary favor.

To protect our democratic society, we earnestly hope that voters will pause once more and carefully exercise their precious vote.

July 15, 2025 Japan Pen Club President: Natsuo Kirino Board of Directors

https://japanpen.or.jp/

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