The by-election for Tokyo’s 15th district of the House of Representatives, which was counted on the 28th, was also the national election debut of the Japan Conservative Party, a faction represented by Naoki Hyakuta, a well-known right-wing critic and writer. Although newcomer Akari Iiyama (48) did not win a seat, he came in fourth out of nine candidates, ahead of independent newcomer Hiromasa Ototake (48), who was supported by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. To. He showed a certain presence.
What kind of people supported the Japanese Conservative Party? I walked and explored the site of Mr. Iiyama’s election campaign. (Yusuke Sato, Mikio Miyao)
◆The support came from far away…?Mr. Momota objected.
On the night of the 28th, Japanese Conservative Party representative Naoki Hyakuta speaks of defeat (Photo by Eiji Sudo)
A press conference was held at the election office in Koto Ward on the night of the 28th, when it became clear that Mr. Iiyama would lose the election. The following exchange occurred between the press and Representative Momota.
Press questions“When Mr. Momota said (during the election period), “How many people from Koto Ward are here? Please raise your hand,” there were places on the street where hardly any hands were raised. Many supporters came from outside the constituency. In fact, I saw people from Hokkaido and Kyushu who had come to Tokyo to watch the elections here and come back to support them.”
Mr. Momota’s answer“That’s not true. There were many people from Koto Ward.”
Although Mr. Momota made this rebuttal, the point made in the question is similar to the reporter’s first-hand experience.
Indeed, media and political party surveys circulated during the election period predicted that Mr. Iiyama would receive a fair amount of votes and come in around fourth place. However, the reporter was skeptical.
Iiyama’s street speeches, which I have visited several times, always drew large crowds, but when I interviewed them, most of them came from far away to support him, and most of them were residents of Koto Ward, his constituency. Because I didn’t see it.
◆Priority policy: “Protect Japan’s national polity and traditional culture”
Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, co-representative of the Japanese Conservative Party
The Japanese Conservative Party rose to prominence in the special election for Tokyo’s 15th district. How did it come to be in the first place?
Representative Mr. Momota is known for his close friendship with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (who passed away in 2022), and was also one of the Abe administration’s “cheerleaders.” However, in June 2023 under the Kishida administration, the Act on Promotion of Understanding of Sexual Minorities (LGBTQ) was enacted and enacted with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party, and he began to criticize the Liberal Democratic Party. In September of the same year, he founded the Japanese Conservative Party. He advocated for revisions to the Understanding Promotion Act, with priority policies such as “protecting Japan’s national polity and traditional culture.”
In the by-election for Tokyo’s 15th Ward, the Liberal Democratic Party has decided not to field or endorse any candidates, and a Liberal Democratic Party source predicts that “Mr. Iiyama will receive a fair number of ‘rock conservative’ votes.” there were. “Bedrock conservatives” refer to those who sympathized with former Prime Minister Abe’s nationalist and restorationist side, and it is believed that a percentage of Liberal Democratic Party supporters have these political tendencies.
◆39-year-old man: “If Mr. Momota forms a political party, I will absolutely support him.”
In fact, the right-wing banner of the Japanese Conservative Party seems to have garnered widespread support from rock-solid conservatives.
Japanese Conservative Party Representative Naoki Hyakuta (right) and Mr. Yo Iiyama
On the 16th, the day of the announcement, Mr. Iiyama took the microphone for the first time in front of Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine in Koto Ward, and said, “Japanese rules, culture, and such things are all wiped out and Japan needs to conform to foreign rules and global standards.” Do you want to do that?” he asked the audience, stirring up concerns about immigrants and China.
When I approached a 39-year-old office worker who was listening to the speech, he revealed that he became a fan of Momota because of his best-selling novel “Eternal Zero,” which depicts a special attack pilot during the war. . “With Mr. Abe gone, there is no longer a political party that can be called a “true conservative party.” If Mr. Momota were to form a political party, he thought, “I absolutely have to support him,” he said passionately.
However, this man lived in Yokohama City, not Koto Ward.
I also asked a supporter of Mr. Iiyama (74) who I saw in front of Mr. Iiyama’s election office on the evening of the 22nd, midway through the election campaign. Originally a supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party, he felt a sense of crisis after the enactment of the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act, saying, “If things continue as they are, the boundaries between men and women will disappear, and Japan’s “national character” will be lost.” Therefore, she supported the Japanese Conservative Party. It is said that he began to do so.
This man also lives in Hyogo Prefecture, not Koto Ward, and had come to Tokyo from Hyogo Prefecture for the holidays to support Mr. Iiyama.
◆Male in his 60s: “Newspapers and TV don’t properly report on the Japanese Conservative Party.”
The Japanese Conservative Party, which does not have an organization like an established political party, has actively used the Internet to expand its reach.
Representative Momota himself actively appears on online programs, taking advantage of his popularity. Perhaps as a result of this, the party’s official X (formerly Twitter) account has over 334,000 followers, exceeding the Liberal Democratic Party’s approximately 250,000 followers and the Constitutional Democratic Party’s approximately 190,000 followers. Mr. Iiyama, a scholar of Islamic thought who has written many books, himself was a YouTuber.
A man in his 60s who was in front of the office with his wife on the evening of the 22nd complained about the by-election in Tokyo’s 15th ward, saying, “Newspapers and TV don’t properly cover the candidates of the Japanese Conservative Party.” “I think it’s a showdown between internet media and old media,” and “There is a difference in the amount of information between the internet and other media,” he said.
This couple was also part of the “expedition” group from Kawasaki City.
◆Did you capture Liberal Democratic Party supporters? “We don’t know the final word yet.”
People who stopped by the Japanese Conservative Party’s street speech in Koto Ward, Tokyo
It was on the voting day of the 28th that I was finally able to meet the “voters” of Koto Ward residents. At the voting booth, I was able to hear from a 55-year-old office worker who said he had cast his vote for Mr. Iiyama. This man, who was originally a supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party, said, “I feel that the Liberal Democratic Party has gone crazy since Mr. Abe left and Mr. Kishida became prime minister.”
Mr. Iiyama received 24,264 votes (14.21% of the votes), nearly 5,000 more votes than the well-known Hiromasa Ototake. Even if there were a small number of supporters across the country, and even if they received enthusiastic support online, I thought that it would be difficult to get a large number of votes in the limited area of Koto Ward. Perhaps the situation survey was correct.
Do you think it has become a base for rock-solid conservatives who traditionally supported the Liberal Democratic Party? Mr. Iiyama himself answered this question at a press conference on the night of the 28th.
“We still don’t know how much we have been able to attract LDP supporters.However, some of the people who supported us this time are actually LDP members, or people who have joined the LDP in the past. There are many.”
With the dissolution of the House of Representatives and general election in the near future, does the Japanese Conservative Party continue to aim to accommodate conservatives who have separated from the Liberal Democratic Party?
Regarding this, Representative Momota only said, “I don’t know yet.The Liberal Democratic Party will send out a large number of people in a large number of constituencies.In that case, what kind of battle will it be?I don’t know at all.”
◆LGBTQ people: “I had no choice but to refrain from going out during the election period.”
On the other hand, LGBTQ people living in the constituency are feeling a growing sense of crisis as the candidate of the Japanese Conservative Party, whose policy is to criticize the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act, has garnered a certain amount of support.
“Crossover Koto,” a group formed by people from Koto Ward, said that claims that exclude LGBTQ people were being spread through loudspeakers and leaflets in the form of “election campaigns,” and said, “We candidly express our anger, anxiety, and sense of helplessness. “I remember it,” he wrote in a comment to the newspaper. The person in charge of the interview also revealed, “Personally, I had no choice but to refrain from going out carelessly during the election period.”
The comment also touched on the Japanese Conservative Party’s anti-immigration policies, such as “revising the Immigration Control and Refugee Act and tightening its implementation,” and added, “Koto Ward also has a Korean community living in Japan, and There are also many immigrants.It is also a major concern that a political style that seeks to gain support by inciting conflict and division will take hold.”
Regarding the media’s reporting on the growth of right-wing groups such as the Japanese Conservative Party, “Even if the intention is to criticize them, it has the effect of making the fact that these parties have momentum a fait accompli and giving them approval.” Complaints. “In order to counter movements that incite discrimination, it is necessary to be properly concerned that it is spreading, but it is also very important to have hope that there are movements to resist it.”