Its leader is a former supermarket manager who created his political party on YouTube in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and campaigned on the Trumpian message “Japanese First.”

The fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan's upper house election, gaining support with warnings of a "silent invasion" of immigrants.

In a result few predicted, the far-right Sanseito party has come out as one of the main winners in Japan’s upper house contest, securing 14 seats out