Shigeru Ishiba denied he had decided to quit after a source and media reports said he planned to announce his resignation to take responsibility for a bruising upper house election defeat.

Its leader is a former supermarket manager who created his political party on YouTube in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and campaigned on the Trumpian message “Japanese First.”

The small rightwing populist party led by firebrand Sohei Kamiya won 14 seats in Sunday’s Upper House election.

Populist ideals are gaining traction in Japan, spurred by right-wing politicians running rampant elsewhere railing against “elitism”, “globalism” and immigration.

In a result few predicted, the far-right Sanseito party has come out as one of the main winners in Japan’s upper house contest, securing 14 seats out

The Sanseito party tapped into discontent over issues galvanizing voters worldwide: inflation, immigration and a political class dismissed as out of touch.

In a significant political shift, Prime Minister Ishiba's coalition lost its majority in Japan's upper house, marking the first such loss for the LDP since 1955. The far-right Sanseito party gained traction with anti-immigrant rhetoric,

Japan's prime minister is clinging to power today, but his outlook remains uncertain. This follows a weekend election that delivered several surprises. HPR's Bill Dorman has more in today's Asia Minute.

Anti-establishment parties focused on wages, immigration and an unresponsive political elite struck a chord with working-age people in Japan.

Will Japan become the latest country to fall to the populist right? - Japan’s right wing Sanseito party made surprise gains in Sunday’s election after running an anti-foreigner campaign