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Reiwa Shinsengumi れいわ新選組
Leader	Taro Yamamoto
Secretary-General	Takashi Takai
Co-Leaders	Akiko Oishi Mari Kushibuchi
Founder	Taro Yamamoto
Founded	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
Split from	Liberal Party
Headquarters	4F, Oshida Bldg. 2-5-20 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Ideology	Progressivism Left-wing populism
Political position	Left-wing[1][2][3][4]
Colors	Pink[5]
Slogan	「日本を守る」とは、「あなたを守る」ことから始まる Nihon wo mamoru to wa anata wo mamoru kotokara hajimaru ("Protecting Japan starts with protecting you")[6]
Councillors	5 / 248
Representatives	1 / 465
Prefectural assembly members	0 / 2,644
Municipal assembly members[7]	54 / 29,135
Website
reiwa-shinsengumi.com
Politics of Japan Political parties Elections

Reiwa Shinsengumi (れいわ新選組) is aprogressive^[8][9] andleft-wing populist^[10][11]political party in Japan founded by actor-turned-politicianTaro Yamamoto in April 2019. The party was formed by left-wing members of theLiberal Party who opposed its merger with theDemocratic Party for the People.^[12] The party won more than 4% of the vote after contesting theHouse of Councilors election in July 2019, gaining two seats only about three and a half months after the formation of the party.^[13]

The party is named after the currentera nameReiwa and theShinsengumi of theBakumatsu period.^[14]

Taro Yamamoto, a member of theHouse of Councillors forTokyo, founded the party on 1 April 2019. This was with the intent of standing multiple candidates, including himself, in the upcoming House of Councillors election later in the year.^[12] On 10 April, Yamamoto held a press conference and announced the party's platform.^[15]

The party stood multiple candidates in the2019 House of Councillors election. The party won 2.2 million votes in thenational PR block, exceeding the 2% threshold needed to be recognised as a political party, and securing two seats. Nearly one million votes were cast for Yamamoto personally; however, because the party had nominatedYasuhiko Funago andEiko Kimura, both of whom havedisabilities,^[a] ahead of him in the party list, Yamamoto did not win a seat.^[16] TheNational Diet Building was adapted to allowbarrier-free access forwheelchair users.

Notable party members include university professorAyumi Yasutomi and former deputy representative of theNorth Korean abduction liaison Toru Hasuike.

Yamamoto was one of the 22 candidates participating in the2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election, coming in third place with 10.72% of the votes. The party promises included a direct cash handout programme due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[17]

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.^[18] Yamamoto, who had been formerly running inTokyo's 8th district, withdrew to run in theTokyo 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 many years prior.^[19] The party further withdrew 7 candidates as part of the joint platform to avoidvote splitting between the opposition parties, accounting for 40% of Reiwa Shinsengumi's planned slate of candidates.^[20][21]

There were 20 other candidates besides Yamamoto running under the Reiwa Shinsengumi banner, includingTakashi Takai, who was expelled from theConstitutional Democratic Party of Japan after ignoring COVID-19state of emergency laws.^[22] Takai was at that moment Reiwa Shinsengumi's only sitting legislator, formerly elected on the CDP list for theChūgoku proportional representation block. Takai ran forShiga Prefecture's 3rd District but was not elected.^[23] Reiwa ultimately won three seats in the House of Representatives, electing Yamamoto,Akiko Oishi, andHayato Kinoshita.^[24]

Yamamoto announced his resignation from the House of Representatives seat to which he was elected in 2021 general election, and contested in Tokyo metropolitan constituency for the House of Councillors.^[25] Reiwa gained three seats in the election, bringing their total to five: Yamamoto winning a seat in Tokyo, along with two other candidates,Daisuke Tenbata andHakase Suidobashi, who took up seats in the nationwide proportional representation block.^[26][27]

Reiwa Shinsengumi won nine seats in the2024 Japanese general election, tripling their seat count in theHouse of Representatives and winning 6.98% of the proportional representation vote.

Reiwa Shinsengumi won a total of six seats in the election, up one from 2019.

On 21 January 2026, Yamamoto resigned from the House of Councillors after being diagnosed withmultiple myeloma. He stated he would continue as party leader with a reduced workload.^[28]

In the2026 election, Reiwa Shinsengumi ran just 18 candidates. The party was reduced to one seat in the House of Representatives, down from nine, and achieved just under three percent of the vote, down four points from 2024. This is the party's worst result since its formation.^[29]

Reiwa Shinsengumi has been described asprogressive,^[8][9]left-wing populist,^[10][11][30] and sits on theleft of theleft–right political spectrum.^[1][2][3][4] Some scholars classify the party's views as radical left-wing,^[31] while others refer to the party ascentre-left.^[32] The party is sometimes considered asliberal,^[33] progressive populist,^[34] "liberal-populist",^[35] orfiscal populist.^[36] Eder-Ramsauer and Matsutani describe Reiwa Shinsengumi as an eclectic left-wing populist party that blends emancipatoryradical democratic politics with an openness tocommunitarian ideas whilst opposingneoliberalism.^[37] Ulv Hanssen points out that the ideological stance that drives the party's populism is anti-neoliberal, a repudiation of neoliberal populism.^[38] On the other hand, Axel Klein, who takes an ideational approach, writes that the party does not meet the criteria that define (left) populism.^[39]

The party's platform emphasizes inclusivity and progressive social values, along withleft-wing economic policies such as raising the minimum wage and raising taxes on the wealthy.^[2] The party's top policy priorities include reducing or abolishing theconsumption tax, strengtheningprogressivecorporate taxation, raising the government-subsidizedminimum wage to¥1,500 per hour, forgiving student loan repayments, and expanding social welfare in general.^[40] The party has made theGreen New Deal its policy platform and believes a big government role is needed to solve problems.^[41] Kamata writes that the party's economic policies are more radical than those of other Japanese political parties.^[41] They use a populist and anti-establishment message to attract youngers and urban voters who tend to be left-wing and socially progressive leanings.^[42]

The party takes a similar stance to theJapanese Communist Party including in its advocacy ofpacifism in East Asia and itsstance against the use of nuclear power.^[30] Sam Bidwell describes the party as a fusion of theanti-nuclear movement and pacifist traditions of the Japanese leftist with the social progressivism anddemagogic style of the Western leftist.^[3] The party's manifesto states that it is necessary to focus on "exclusively defence-oriented policy" and "peaceful diplomacy" in order to contribute to peace in East Asia, and reiterates its opposition to nuclear weapons and supports peace in its security policy.^[43] The party has defended Palestine and taken part in protests against Israel.^[5]

The party is variously described as beinganti-austerity,anti-establishment,^[11][44][45] andanti-nuclear power^[46] as well as supportinganimal welfare,^[46]minority rights,^[46][47] andeconomic interventionism,^[48] and the main supporters of this party are alsoleft-liberals.^[49][50]

According to their "Emergency Policies" document, the party supports reducing carbon emissions as fast as possible, reducing emissions by 70% by 2030 and reachingnet-zero emissions by 2050, eradicating tuition fees and university debt, and providing free childcare, school lunches, afterschool activities, and medical expenses for children under 18.^[51]

The party has announced that it would reverse/abolish many of the laws that were revised or passed by Prime MinisterShinzō Abe if elected, including the pre-emptive anti-terrorism law such asmartial lawState Secrecy Law and theLegislation for Peace and Security.^{[citation needed]}

The party is also notable for its activism outside of the Diet, including in street protests. Lawmakers such asAkiko Oishi andMari Kushibuchi have been active in pro-Palestine street demonstrations.^[52]

No.	Name (Birth–death)	Constituency / title	Term of office		Election results	Image
			Took office	Left office
Split from: a part ofLiberal Party (2016)(centre-left)
1	Taro Yamamoto (b. 1974)	Cou forTokyo (21 July 2013 – 21 July 2019; 25 July 2022 – present) Rep forTokyo PR block (31 October 2021 – 15 April 2022)	1 April 2019	Incumbent	2019 Unopposed 2022 Taro Yamamoto – 8.83 Mari Kushibuchi andAkiko Oishi – 4.36 Tsunehira Furuya – 3.81 2025[53] Taro Yamamoto – 17.04 Ai Yahata – 5.14 Naoto Sakaguchi – 3.64 Ikki Shinohara - 2.45 Mitsuaki Aoyagi - 1.78

Election	Leader	Candidates	Seats			Position	Constituency votes		PR Block votes		Government
			No.	±	Share		Number	%	Number	%
2021	Taro Yamamoto	21	3 / 465	new	0.6%	7th	248,280	0.43%	2,215,648	3.86%	Opposition
2024		35	9 / 465	6	1.9%	6th	425,445	0.78%	3,805,060	6.98%	Opposition
2026		18	1 / 465	8	0.2%	8th	255,496	0.45%	1,672,499	2.92%	TBD

• Fahey, Robert A.; Hino, Airo; Pekkanen, Robert J. (2021). "Populsim in Japan". In Robert J. Pekkanen; Saadia M. Pekkanen (eds.).The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics.Oxford University Press.ISBN 9780190050993.
• Hanssen, Ulv (2021)."Populism in Japan: Fascist, neoliberal and leftist variants (2)"(PDF).Sōka Hōgaku.50 (3).The Soka University Law Association:59–79.
• Klein, Axel (15 May 2020)."Is There Left Populism In Japan? The Case Of Reiwa Shinsengumi"(PDF).The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus.18 (10). Retrieved29 May 2024.
• Pekkanen, Robert J.; Reed, Steven R. (2023). "The Opposition in 2021: A Second Party and a Third Force". In Robert J. Pekkanen; Steven R. Reed; Daniel M. Smith (eds.).Japan Decides 2021: The Japanese General Election. Springer Nature.ISBN 9783031113246.
• Ueda, Makiko (2021). "New Civic Activism and Constitutional Discussion: Streets, Shrines, and Cyberspace". InHelen Hardacre;Timothy S. George; Keigo Komamura; Franziska Seraphim (eds.).Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN 9781793609052.OCLC 1251445934.

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