Abstract
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has achieved undeniable success in economic and social development and many voters don’t see any point in changing their voting habits. The right-wing Populist Party has emerged in 2012, right before the general election which has won 54 seats. The unusual thing about it is that the independent regional Osaka Restoration Association was founded and lead to its success by the 43- year-old mayor of Osaka Hashimoto Toru.However, this solid victory didn’t secure party’s political future. The party experienced mergers, splits and eventually Hashimoto’s exit who then reinvented the Osaka Restoration Association as a party which relies on urban voters to whom the party offers clear political goals. It’s assumed that such “restoration societies” will be set up in other cities and they all will be integrated into the new Japan Restoration Party. Such setups are unusual for Japan but common in the USA. The emergence of this new party was good news for Abe as the ruling party and the Hashimoto supporters have similar views and political goals.
Keywords
Japan, Osaka, Hashimoto Toru, National Restoration Party of Japan, right populism, Osaka Restoration Association, split
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