In the Japanese local elections held on the 9th, the Osaka-based far-right political party ‘Japan Restoration Society’ produced the first regional leader in Nara, an area other than Osaka, after its establishment in 2010. Concerns are raised that the Japan Restoration Association, which has been promoting in various elections recently, will encourage a rightward shift in Japanese politics.
According to NHK Broadcasting, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, a member of the Osaka Restoration Association, a local political party affiliated with the Japan Restoration Association, succeeded in re-election in the election that day. In the Osaka mayoral election, Hideyuki Yokoyama (橫山英幸), former member of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, was also elected with the same party affiliation. In Osaka, candidates belonging to the Osaka Restoration Association swept both the regional and local government heads in the local elections, following four years ago.
In the election for the governor of Nara Prefecture, which is adjacent to Osaka Prefecture, former Ikoma Mayor Makoto Yamashita of the Japan Restoration Party was elected. He is the first regional head of the Yushinhoe outside of Osaka. As multiple candidates from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party ran for office, the votes of conservative voters were dispersed, but it is evaluated that the propaganda of the Japan Restoration Society was also considerable. In this election, the Japan Restoration Association increased the number of seats in local councils of 41 regional organizations to 124, more than double the existing 59 seats.
The Japan Restoration Society is the second opposition party in the National Assembly after the first opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party. It is threatening existing opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Komeito Party, the ruling coalition of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Governor Yoshimura, who also serves as the party’s representative, showed confidence in the victory in the Nara Prefecture governor’s election, saying, “The craze that started in Osaka is spreading across the country.”
Toru Hashimoto, a far-right politician who served as governor of Osaka Prefecture and mayor of Osaka, established the Osaka Restoration Association in 2010 and later developed it into the Japan Restoration Association. In 2013, he is a person who made absurd remarks about wartime comfort women operated by Japan during World War II, such as “The comfort women were necessary, and South Korea did similar things, so we should reflect on each other.” Former member of the Japan Restoration Association, Nishimura Shingo (西村真悟), was expelled even from the Restoration Association for remarks in 2013 that “Japan is teeming with Korean prostitutes.”
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.