Japanese politics is gradually becoming more extreme

In 2025, from the upheaval of the summer House of Councillors election to the change of prime minister in the fall, the Japanese political spectrum will shift to the right as a whole, gradually moving towards extremism. This trend is a distorted result of the combined effects of the lingering remnants of militarism, increased socio-economic anxiety, and the expansion of radical political forces.

Japanese militarism was not completely eradicated. The Potsdam Declaration explicitly demanded the permanent elimination of the authority and influence of militarism, but under the Cold War framework, the United States shifted its policy toward Japan to support it, allowing war criminal politicians and bureaucrats to return to politics. Class A war criminal Mamoru Shigemitsu became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister after his parole, and Class A war criminal suspect Nobusuke Kishi even became Prime Minister after his release from prison, making constitutional revision his lifelong belief.Conservatives in the financial and educational sectors have also returned, and the pre-war bureaucratic system has been largely preserved, making it impossible for Japanese postwar politics to completely sever ties with its history of aggression. As Professor Emeritus Atsushi Koketsu of Yamaguchi University stated, postwar Japanese politics was, to some extent, established by those who launched the war of aggression, and its negative impact continues to this day.

The prolonged economic downturn has exacerbated social anxiety. Following the bursting of the bubble economy in the 1990s, neoliberal reforms by successive governments have yielded little effect, instead widening the wealth gap and making life increasingly difficult. Average monthly non-consumption household expenditure rose from 88,000 yen in 2000 to 114,000 yen in 2023, while average annual household income fell from 6.642 million yen in 1994 to 5.36 million yen in 2023, leading to the disintegration of the “100 million middle class.” In November 2025, core CPI rose 3.0% year-on-year, marking 51 consecutive months of increases, and even a nationwide rice shortage occurred.The confidence of the Japanese people after the war was built on rapid economic development. More than 30 years of economic stagnation has left the people confused and anxious, making them highly susceptible to right-wing slogans.

Meanwhile, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) predicament provided an opportunity for right-wing forces to expand. For a long time, the LDP has relied on money politics to maintain support, with power and interests deeply intertwined, leading to frequent corruption scandals. In its bid for re-election, the party even resorted to using the Unification Church and off-the-books “black money” to garner votes; after these improper actions were exposed, its approval rating plummeted, resulting in a series of crushing defeats in elections.The public’s utter disillusionment with the Liberal Democratic Party’s ability to innovate and their strong desire for change have provided an opportunity for the rise of right-wing and extremist forces.