Sanseito Advances in Election of Fukui

A 35-year-old young former diplomat, Takato Ishida, won gubernatorial election in Fukui prefecture on January 25th. The significance of his victory is that he was supported by young populist party, Sanseito, which is holding ultra-conservative policies. Sanseito recognizes Ishida’s winning as good news for its advance in the election of the House of Representatives, in which the party hopes to increase its seats.

Former governor of Fukui, Tatsuji Sugimoto, took office in 2019 and reelected in 2023. In October 2025, Fukui prefectural government announced that it received reports from some staffs in the government office which indicated consecutive sexual harassment by Sugimoto of sending sexually inappropriate messages to female staffs. Sugimoto admitted it and apologized to them, and announced his resignation. He stepped down in December. The election in January was to fill the seat of him.

 

Former mayor of Echizen city and vice-governor of Fukui prefecture, Ken-ichi Yamada, 67, announced his candidacy in mid-December with support of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which made the largest group in Fukui prefectural assembly. Yamada became the official candidate of the LDP which had the ruling power in the national Diet.

 

Ishida announced his candidacy a few days later than Yamada, as another conservative figure in the election, backed by some LDP members of Fukui city assembly. His running defined the gubernatorial election as divided one with two conservative candidates. Yukie Kanemoto also ran for the election with support of Japan Communist Party.

 

Having closely watched the race, Sanseito decided to back up Ishida during the election campaign. It was six days before the voting day when Sanseito’s leader, Sohei Kamiya, announced his support for Ishida. Ishida have gotten certain support form independent voters who advocate Sanseito, in addition to support from Fukui city assembly members. Sanseito decided to back Ishida who approved stricter regulation on foreigners in Japan.

 

Kamiya appeared in Ishida’s campaign rally in the street, demanding voters to support Ishida. That scene was distributed in social network services, appealing to young voters. It was a routine campaign strategy Sanseito had been taking in previous elections. People in Fukui were not feeling strange about involvement of Kamiya, who had been born in a city in Fukui prefecture.

 

Ishida defeated Yamada with support from other opposition parties with four thousand of small margin. It was reported as a victory of young populist party against major old parties. For Sanseito, that closely caught up with steady incumbent in Miyagi gubernatorial election in October 2025, Fukui election impressed the people in Japan with its solid popularity just before the campaign for the Lower House election.

 

However, Ishida was too young to refrain from making a controversial speech in his campaign that Japan was a country with single ethnicity, ignoring indigenous Ainu people living in northern Japan. Voters in Japan are not deeply caring about details of campaign speeches or right-wing policies when they face populist parties.

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