Reiwa Shinsengumi

Reiwa Shinsengumiれいわ新選組 is the left-wing populist and progressive political party in Japan founded by actor-turned-politician Tarō Yamamoto in April 2019. a party was formed by left-wing members of the Liberal Party who opposed its merger with the Democratic Party for the People. The party won more than 4% of the vote after contesting the House of Councilors election in July 2019, gaining two seats only about three & a half months after the formation of the party.

The party is variously transmitted as being anti-austerity, anti-establishment, anti-capitalist, and anti-nuclear power as alive as supporting animal welfare, disability rights, and economic interventionism.

History

Tarō Yamamoto, a item of the House of Councillors for Tokyo, founded the party on 1 April 2019. This was with the intent of standing chain candidates, including himself, in the upcoming House of Councillors election later in the year. On 10 April, Yamamoto held a press conference and announced the party's platform.

The party stood multiple candidates in the 2019 House of Councillors election. The party won 2.2 million votes in the national PR block, exceeding the 2% threshold needed to be recognised as a political party, and securing two seats. Although most one million votes were cast for Yamamoto personally, since the party had nominated Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura, both of whom pretend disabilities, ahead of him in the party list, Yamamoto did not win a seat. The National Diet Building was adapted to allow barrier-free access for wheelchair users.

Notable party members put university professor Ayumi Yasutomi and former deputy lesson of the North Korean abduction liaison Toru Hasuike.

Party leader Tarō Yamamoto was one of the 22 candidates participating in the 2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election, coming in third place with 10.72% of the votes. The party promises forwarded a direct cash handout programme due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yamamoto joined with the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japanese Communist Party, and Social Democratic Party in running a joint opposition coalition based on common policy goals. Yamamoto, who had been formerly running in Tokyo's 8th district, withdrew to run in the Tokyo PR block to avoid vote splitting against the CDP's Harumi Yoshida. The withdrawal came following pushback from local residents, who were hesitant to vote for Yamamoto, a "parachute candidate," over Yoshida, who had been active within the community for numerous years prior. The party further withdrew 7 candidates as factor of the joint platform to avoid vote splitting between the opposition parties, accounting for 40% of Reiwa Shinsengumi's planned slate of candidates.

There are 20 other candidates besides Yamamoto, running under the Reiwa Shinsengumi banner. One of them is Takashi Takai, who withdrew from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan after an allegation of sexual harassment. Takai is Reiwa Shinsengumi's only sitting legislator, formerly elected on the CDP list for the Chūgoku proportional representation block. Takai will be running at Shiga Prefecture's 3rd District.