WPLL newsletter “Umitsubame” No.1503
July 27, 2025 English version
💁This is the international edition of “Umitsubame” (The Petrel)
— the political newsletter of the Workers Party for the Liberation of
Labor (Japan). We aim to present a workers’ perspective on global
affairs and call for international class solidarity.
✊Overthrow
the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito administration, which
promotes debt-dependent fiscal expansion and increased military
spending!
✊Oppose all forms of discrimination, especially gender discrimination, ethnic discrimination, and wage discrimination!
✊Let's advance our struggle under the banner of “abolishing exploitation” and “liberating labor”!
🟩Ruling Coalition Loses Majority Again
— Populism on the Rise
In Japan’s latest Upper House election, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito suffered major setbacks, once again losing its majority following last year’s Lower House election. However, rather than benefiting opposition parties like the Constitutional Democratic Party(CDP) and the Japanese Communist Party(JCP), this shift favored populist forces such as the Democratic Party for the People(DPFP), the Sanseitō, and the Conservative Party.
The LDP lost ground in single-seat constituencies and urban areas, reflecting public anger over political corruption, rising prices, and growing social insecurity. Komeito also saw its seats drop significantly.
The traditional opposition failed to capitalize on this discontent. Although they proposed tax cuts to counter inflation, their programs did not address the root causes of workers' hardship. Meanwhile, the populist DPFP surged with promises of higher take-home pay, and the far-right Sanseito expanded its base by promoting nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric.
The article warns that these forces distract from the real source of hardship—capitalist domination—and scapegoat foreign workers. It concludes by emphasizing the need to build a working-class party aimed at overcoming capitalist exploitation and achieving a socialist society.
🟩Exposing the Rise of Exclusionary Populism
by the Sanseito
The Sanseito gained 14 seats in the latest Upper House election, promoting “Japanese First” rhetoric rooted in exclusion and nationalism. Their rise reflects the frustrations of a declining middle class and the “lost generation” facing economic stagnation. Blaming globalization and immigrants for growing inequality, the party deflects attention from capitalism’s structural contradictions. As exclusionary nationalism spreads, workers must unite internationally to confront this reactionary populism and resist its divisive agenda.
🟩2025 Defense White Paper:
Military Power Masqueraded as a “Fortress of Peace”
to Justify Imperialism
Japan’s 2025 Defense White Paper serves as a propaganda tool to legitimize its military buildup by exaggerating external threats, especially from China. It emphasizes "counterstrike capabilities" and "stand-off defense" to justify preemptive attacks under the guise of self-defense, supported by "crisis laws." Japan’s militarization is part of an inter-imperialist rivalry with China, which itself has become an imperialist capitalist state. Workers must oppose their own ruling class and military through international solidarity and resist the path toward imperialist war.
🟩Condemn the LDP's "Work Reform" initiative!
They're revising the cap on overtime work
In the recent upper house election, Japan’s ruling LDP promoted a “Work-Willing Reform” policy to loosen regulations on working hours. This follows the long-standing “Work Style Reform” initiated by Abe, which has in fact preserved long working hours and increased exploitation. The policy promotes job-based employment systems and justifies deregulation due to labor shortages caused by low wages and overwork. The article argues that workers must organize class-based resistance to protect their rights and ultimately abolish wage labor altogether.
💠Full Article
🟧Ruling Coalition Loses Majority Again
— Populism on the Rise
The Upper House election held on July 20 saw the ruling Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) and Komeito suffer significant losses, falling below the majority threshold for the second consecutive election following last year's Lower House election. However, the parties that gained ground in their place were the Democratic Party For the People(DPFP), which advocates class cooperation, and the Sanseito and Conservative Party, which promote nationalism and xenophobia. The distrust and dissatisfaction toward the LDP-Komeito administration did not lead to the development of unity and struggle among workers and the working class, but instead propelled populist forces to the forefront. This is a critical issue that must be thoroughly analyzed and addressed.
◇The LDP and Komeito suffered a crushing defeat.
Ishiba had aimed to secure a majority (50 seats or more) for the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito. However, the results showed that the LDP won only 14 seats in the 32 single-seat constituencies that were key to the overall outcome, half of the 28 seats it won in the previous election (2022), and lost 18 seats. The LDP also struggled in the 13 single-seat constituencies with two or more seats up for election. In Osaka, the LDP lost a seat for the first time in 27 years since its endorsed candidate was defeated in 1998. In the large Tokyo constituency, one of the two LDP candidates was defeated, and in Chiba, where the LDP had held two seats since 2013, only one candidate was elected, marking a retreat. The number of votes obtained in the proportional representation system was 12.81 million, a decrease of 5.45 million votes from the previous election, and the number of proportional representation seats remained at 12.
The LDP's crushing defeat is a manifestation of the pent-up distrust and dissatisfaction stemming from money-driven and corrupt politics symbolized by “slush fund creation,” rising prices for rice and other goods, soaring housing costs, and anxiety about the future. Despite the hardships faced by the general public, the LDP has continued to accept political donations from corporations and their affiliated groups, repeatedly engaging in “backdoor dealings.” Even after these practices were exposed and criticized, the party showed no signs of reflection, instead attempting to gloss over the issue by citing the need for “transparency in donations.”
Komeito, as a coalition partner with the LDP, has cooperated with the LDP, but has suffered a significant setback, falling from 14 seats in the previous election to a total of eight seats, four in the electoral districts and four in the proportional representation system.
◇The powerlessness of the Constitutional Democratic Party(CDP) and the Japanese Communist Party(JCP) has been exposed.
However, such criticism and anger toward the LDP-Komeito coalition government did not lead to a rise in support for the Constitutional Democratic Party(CDP) and the Japanese Communist Party(JCP), which have emphasized their critical stance toward the government, unlike the Japan Innovation Party, which approved the government's budget and supplementary budget proposals, and the DPFP, which has emphasized negotiations with the government on issues such as tax cuts under the slogan of “resolution rather than confrontation.”
The CDP won 15 seats in the electoral districts and 7 seats in the proportional representation system, for a total of 22 seats, the same number as before the election. The JCP lost 2% of the vote and won only 1 seat in the electoral districts and 2 seats in the proportional representation system, for a total of 3 seats, losing 4 seats.
The CDP and the JCP opposed the government's promise of “cash handouts” in response to rising prices, calling it a “one-time giveaway” and proposing a consumption tax cut instead.
The CDP proposed eliminating consumption tax on food products, not issuing deficit bonds, and using fiscal surpluses and unused reserves as financial resources. However, even if consumption tax is reduced by using fiscal surpluses and unused reserves as financial resources, this is not possible every year, but only for one year.
In response, the JCP promised to immediately reduce the consumption tax to 5% and ultimately abolish it altogether. They proposed to cover the resulting revenue shortfall by imposing proportionate taxes on profitable large corporations and the wealthy.
But will the Communist Party's proposal solve the problem of rising prices?
Even if we say that large corporations and the wealthy should bear their fair share of the burden, the source of that burden is the surplus value created by workers. Even if we reduce (or abolish) consumption tax and say that large corporations and the wealthy should bear that burden, the amount of surplus value that corporations extract from workers will not change.
Furthermore, according to an online survey conducted by Asahi Shimbun and Osaka University, 1.1% of those who voted for the Sanseito had intended to vote for the JCP in April and May (Asahi, July 22). The JCP had campaigned on a platform of “correcting the distortions of LDP politics that follow the United States,” and it can be said that such nationalistic arguments helped expand support for the Sanseito.
◇Let's develop a workers' party that aims to overcome the domination of capital
The opposition parties' lack of power led to the rise of populist forces like the DPFP, as well as reactionary political forces like the Sanseito and the Conservative Party, which promote xenophobia and ultranationalism under the slogan “Japanese first.”
The DPFP advocated raising the non-taxable minimum to 1.78 million yen with the aim of increasing take-home pay, and its seats increased more than fourfold from 4 to 17, reaching 22 seats including non-elected seats, making it a party with the right to submit bills accompanied by budgets on its own. They have shown complete disregard for the fact that their “increase in take-home pay” policy would require an annual budget of 7 to 8 trillion yen and would entail new burdens, instead focusing on short-term gains to expand their influence.
Representative Tamaki said that since Ishiba did not cooperate with the “take-home pay increase” policy, he will not form a coalition with Ishiba's LDP administration, but if Ishiba resigns as prime minister, cooperation with the LDP is possible. There is a high possibility that the DPFP will join forces with the LDP.
On the other hand, the Sanseito won 7.43 million votes, or 12.6% of the vote, and made a significant advance, winning a total of 14 seats, including 7 in electoral districts and 7 in proportional representation. This exceeded the threshold of 11 seats required to enable the party to independently submit bills without a budget in the House of Councillors.
They insist that foreigners are the cause of hardships and anxieties in life. They divert attention away from the real cause of workers' hardships and anxieties about the future, which is the contradiction of capital's domination of anarchic production for profit, and instead shift the blame onto foreigners, dividing foreign and Japanese workers in Japan and inciting xenophobia.
“Japanese first” is actually “nation first,” and if reactionary trends such as those of the Sanseito and the Conservative Party expand, the nation's oppression of workers will intensify, and living conditions will inevitably deteriorate further.
However, we cannot expect the JCP or the CDP to fight against reactionary populist forces. This is because they are competing with the LDP in terms of handouts and spreading nationalism, thereby dismantling the class consciousness of workers.
There is a need to fight for the establishment and development of a workers' party that will strive to overcome the domination of capital, which is the cause of all the misfortunes of workers, and aim for a society free from exploitation.
🟧Exposing the Rise of Exclusionary Populism
by the Sansei Party
In the Upper House election, the Sanseito won 14 seats (7 in electoral districts and 7 in proportional representation districts), increasing its seats from 2 before the election to 15. The 7 constituency seats are the same as those of the Constitutional Democratic Party(CDP) and the Democratic Party For the People(DPFP). The party's vote count in the proportional representation bloc, which reflects national support for the party, was approximately 7.43 million votes (12.6% of the vote), surpassing the CDP and ranking third behind the DPFP's approximately 7.6 million votes (12.9%).
◇What is the background behind their emergence at the center of politics?
The Sanseito met the requirements for political party status (five or more seats or 2% or more of the vote in the most recent Upper House election) when Upper House member Umemura, who had left the Nippon Ishin, joined the party, resulting in increased opportunities to appear on television, such as NHK, and rapidly expanding its visibility. The Sanseito repeatedly asserts that “what's wrong with putting Japanese people first?” “Excessive acceptance of foreigners is preventing Japanese wages from rising,” “Foreigners are buying up land all over Japan,” and “Let's improve Japan with Japanese people, without relying on foreign power or foreign capital.”
Party leader Kamiya opposes globalization. He argues that globalization has widened the gap between rich and poor and impoverished the middle class. In response to accusations of xenophobia, he claims that “managing foreigners for the sake of national interests and public safety” is not discrimination, and that the more his party is criticized, the more it will grow.
Kamiya's argument is that in order to increase sales, consumption must be increased, and for that, wage increases are necessary. However, the LDP and Komeito coalition government has embraced globalization, accepting foreign workers and opening the Japanese market to foreign capital. As a result, Japanese wages have fallen, the gap between rich and poor has widened, and the middle class has become impoverished. Large corporations have accumulated 600 trillion yen in retained earnings and receive 9 trillion yen annually in consumption tax refunds. While large corporations can afford to raise wages, small and medium-sized enterprises argue that doing so would lead to bankruptcy, and they oppose the LDP's promotion of globalization.
During the “lost 30 years,” the “declining middle class” (white-collar workers in managerial positions) and the “employment ice age generation,” who were forced into “unwanted lives” due to capital restructuring and rationalization that led to a halt in new hiring, and who are now struggling with despair and anxiety (those who entered society between 1993 and 2004, often in non-regular employment with low wages, and many with short pension contribution periods, resulting in limited future pension benefits) are the target demographic. According to a exit poll by Kyodo News, the Sanseito secured 18% of the vote among those in their 40s, topping all parties, and 15% among those in their 50s (second place). This generation constitutes the Sanseito's core support base.
According to the “Global Survey on Populism 2024” (Ipsos), the percentage of respondents who agree with the statement “Existing political parties and politicians do not care about people like me” has increased 1.6 times over the past six years (from 39% in 2016 to 62% in 2022). In the Ministry of Children and Families' “2023 Survey on the Awareness of Children and Youth,” when asked, “Do you feel that your life has direction or meaning (within a week)?” Japanese youth responded, “Not even once a week” at 26.4%, which is significantly higher than other countries (Germany at 5.9%). These findings reflect frustration with the “stagnation” of Japanese politics and society, and serve as the backdrop for growing sympathy and support for the populist politics of the Sanseito, which advocates for “Japanese first.”
◇Imitating Trump
The fundamental cause of inequality lies in capitalist production, which is based on the antagonistic relationship between capital and wage labor. Globalization is the process by which countries deepen their economic ties and promote integration through trade and capital investment, and it is inevitable in a world dominated by capital. It is not globalization that has created decline or income inequality, but rather capitalist production, which aims to maximize profits, that concentrates wealth in the hands of capitalists and the wealthy, reproducing the terrifying gap between the haves and have-nots on a daily basis. The Sanseito portrays globalization as a process by which multinational corporations collaborate with power surpassing that of nations to extract wealth from Japan, and emphasizes the need for nationalism to prevent this, placing “Japanese first” at the forefront.
In Japan, xenophobic arguments that had previously been timidly voiced have now burst forth like a floodgate opening. In response to the Pandora's box they opened, the LDP announced plans to establish a command center to achieve “zero illegal foreigners.” The Komeito and the DPFP also agree on strengthening controls on foreigners.
◇Let's form a line of workers to fight against fascists!
Nationalism and xenophobia are two sides of the same coin. As of the end of 2024, there were 3.76 million foreign residents in Japan, accounting for 3% of the total population. Unless we firmly oppose and crush xenophobia directed at foreigners, we will pave the way for a system that suppresses and oppresses people and organizations that oppose Japanese nationalism as “anti-Japanese.”
The Upper House election revealed the rise of xenophobia and nationalism. We call on workers around the world to unite and rise up together in the struggle to expose the claims of xenophobic parties such as the Sanseito and to overthrow the domination of capital, which is the root cause of the divisions and inequalities that give rise to xenophobia.
🟧2025 Defense White Paper:
Military Power Masqueraded as a “Fortress of Peace”
to Justify Imperialism
The 2025 edition of the Defense White Paper was published in June. While it includes sections on improving issues such as the shortage of Self-Defense Forces personnel, the fact that there are still 70 to 80 suicides among Self-Defense Forces personnel each year despite a decrease, and the fact that there were 350 cases of disciplinary action for harassment in fiscal 2023, overall, it is a large-scale propaganda document that emphasizes the drastic changes in the international environment and the need to strengthen Japan's military capabilities.
◇Stirring up fears about China's threat
In a statement accompanying the publication of the white paper, Defense Minister Nakatani said, with Russia and China in mind, that “the security environment surrounding our country is becoming more severe and complex than at any time since the end of World War II,” and therefore Japan would take “the initiative and leadership” in fundamentally strengthening its military capabilities.
Certainly, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's actions to “redivide” the waters around the Paracel and Spratly Islands, effectively control them with its powerful military force, reclaim islands and reefs to turn them into “bases,” and encircle maritime interests are by no means acceptable.
However, Japan, like Russia and China, is a “capital exporting country” that increases direct investment overseas and repatriates profits (surplus labor) extracted from overseas workers, and is an imperialist country that parasitizes on the capital interests it has built overseas. It is deceptive to say that Japan is not as aggressive as Russia and China.
This is because Japan is competing to become the dominant capital power in China and Asia, and is seeking to gain an advantage over China by forming military alliances with “like-minded countries.” The “Asia Gateway Initiative” launched during the first Abe administration and Xi Jinping's “Belt and Road Initiative” differ in scale, but they marked the beginning of capital investment competition and military expansion competition between Japan and China in Asia. At that time, Abe was already advocating for an increase in military spending from 1% to 2% of GDP.
In the white paper, Nakaya and the Ministry of Defense stir up fears of China in particular, justifying a “fundamental strengthening of Japan's defense capabilities” and rushing to deploy stand-off missiles for preemptive strikes against enemy bases and fighter jets for attacking enemy bases. Nakaya and others' stance also stirs up confrontation between Japan and China and prepares for imperialist war.
Regarding Japan's military buildup, some members of the New Left, such as the Chukakuha, criticize it as preparation for a “war of aggression against China.” They mistakenly believe that China is still a “socialist” country (a socialist country undergoing capitalist transformation?) and misjudge the situation, implicitly calling on Chinese workers to fight to defend themselves against Japanese aggression.
China is an imperialist state capitalist country that has built up enormous interests overseas, and Chinese workers must unite to become the “grave diggers” of state capitalism and fight against Xi Jinping's autocratic rule. They are distracting workers' attention from this reality.
If war breaks out between Japan and China, it will clearly be an imperialist war. It will by no means be a “war of aggression” by Japan. Workers in Japan and China must unite and rise up against their own governments and military forces in opposition to imperialist war.
Is that not so, fellow activists?
◇Fundamental strengthening of military capabilities
The white paper provides detailed explanations from various perspectives regarding the strengthening of military capabilities. Among these, the white paper places particular emphasis on the following points.
This is a “fundamental enhancement” of “stand-off defense capabilities,” “comprehensive air defense missile defense capabilities,” and “unmanned asset defense capabilities.” “Stand-off defense capabilities” include not only long-range missiles deployed in the Okinawa Islands, but also long-range missiles launched from fighter jets.
The “necessity” of enemy base attack capabilities, or “counterattack capabilities,” is being used as a means to strengthen these attack capabilities. The white paper states as follows.
“In the event of a missile attack by the other party, the missile defense network will intercept incoming missiles, but in cases where no other means are available, counterattack capabilities will be used as a necessary minimum measure of self-defense to prevent further armed attacks by the other party” (page 40).
Although this document is written in a calm tone, its true meaning is that if it is determined that there are no other options “as a measure of self-defense,” it does not deny military operations that consider attack to be the best form of defense.
◇Three “Emergency Situation Laws”
The backbone of the military's (Self-Defense Forces) acceptance of enemy base attacks is based on “armed attack situations, predicted armed attack situations,” and “existential crisis situations.” This explanation is in the white paper, so I will quote it here. First, regarding “armed attack situations and predicted armed attack situations.”
“A situation of armed attack refers to a situation in which an armed attack from outside Japan has occurred, or a situation in which it is recognized that there is an imminent and clear danger of an armed attack from outside Japan. A situation of anticipated armed attack refers to a situation in which an armed attack has not yet occurred, but the situation has become tense and an armed attack from outside Japan is anticipated” (page 235).
If the government and military determine that an armed attack is likely, this “emergency law” will be exercised through a cabinet decision and Diet approval, and preemptive military strikes will also be authorized. At the same time, it will also serve as a basis for suppressing workers' protests against imperialist wars.
Next, we will explain what is meant by “existential crisis.”
“A situation in which an armed attack occurs against another country with which Japan has close relations, thereby threatening the existence of Japan and posing a clear danger of fundamentally undermining the lives, freedom, and right to pursue happiness of the Japanese people.”
This is clearly a contingency plan for a Taiwan contingency. As clearly stated in the “three security documents,” the government has upgraded Taiwan to the same level as the United States as a friendly nation and is confronting China. Japanese capital and the government believe that if Taiwan falls under Chinese control, it will suffer significant economic and geopolitical losses, and therefore strongly believe in the need to prepare for a Taiwan contingency.
The above is a brief introduction to the characteristics of the White Paper. The White Paper strongly reflects the development of Japanese imperialism and therefore calls for confrontation with China. This is the aim of the White Paper.
In order for Japanese workers to unite with Chinese workers, it is essential to understand that China is also an imperialist capitalist country. This is why the working class must not fight like the radical new leftist factions.
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