LGBTQ+ Rights Attacked by Elected Japanese Politician
As we have noted in the past, Japan is the only country in the G7 that does not grant legal recognition to same-gender partnerships, with many seeing the partnership oath system, while better than nothing, a sad half-measure compared to the goal of marriage equality. Further, an aversion by many to discussing one’s private life means that LGBTQ+ issues can often go undiscussed.
On the other hand, the Japanese public — and especially the younger generations — hold a far more positive view of LGBTQ+ people, and the majority of the public support marriage equality. This does not mean, however, that there are not those who are working to stymy the flow of progress in Japan. On 18 April, we saw one such example by Sohei Kamiya, the leader of Sanseito, during a speech in the capital city of Hokkaido, Sapporo.
What Was Said?
During one of his speeches, shortly after a somewhat unusual comment on how he might cause a diplomatic incident if he discusses his views on the displacement of indigenous people, he went on to say that, “we don’t need to teach weird LBGT stuff and things like that. We should only be teaching children the history of Hokkaido,” which drew a smattering of “hear hear” cheers from the crowd.
Despite protesting that his comments were taken out of context by the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, and that he was not dismissing LGBTQ+ people as unimportant, he has form for these sorts of comments. Just this year, he compared gender equality to communism, echoing his opposition in 2023 to the LGBT Awareness Promotion Act, where he insisted that “diversity, political correctness, and gender equality are communism,” as well as mouthing off that “we all need to say it together. We don’t need LGBT, and there’s no need to increase understanding.”
Who is Sohei Kamiya?
The founder, secretary general, and leader of the far-right Sanseito (whose official English translation is Party of Do It Yourself, a name so convoluted that it ironically suggests that they need a degree of assistance), Kamiya was born in Fukui in 1977. Following his graduation from Kansai University, he worked as an English teacher and as a store manager in his family’s company before studying for his law degree, which he was awarded in 2007.
Shortly after this, he ran successfully for a number of local electoral campaigns, before coming unstuck in 2012 when he ran in the House of Representatives in the general election. After further failures in his attempt to bring his (what I will generously call) ideas to national attention, he founded Sanseito as an online presence, before registering as an official political party in 2020. He was elected to the House of Councillors, the upper house in the Diet, in 2022, through the proportional representative block. He will face the public again when he is up for re-election in 2028. So, other than homophobia, what other views does he hold?
From the founding, Sanseito was promoting conspiracy theories and obscure spiritualistic beliefs — something that was only magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sanseito as an organization spread significant amounts of Covid-19 misinformation, including describing the vaccines as “murder weapons.” Kamiya himself has opposed government-funded vaccines, and has stated that the pandemic was blown out of proportion by “the powerful” in the media and the pharmaceutical sector — and by “powerful,” he clarified that he meant Jewish people. So we can add antisemitism to his list of charming traits.
He is additionally a historical revisionist, and denies Japanese war crimes during the Second World War, including denying the existence of so-called comfort women who were abducted and abused by the Japanese military, as well as refusing to accept the reality that the Rape of Nanjing took place.
It may also not come as a surprise that, for someone who is opposed to LGBTQ+ rights, he is also deeply invested in promoting “traditional” gender roles, and thinks that women should be given a stipend to have children, and to work in the home, rather than find employment.
Response Online
As one might imagine, the online response to Kamiya’s words among the LGBTQ+ community was swift and angry. There are far too many for us to list every single one, but here are a few that stood out.
Left-wing activist “Love Chan” noted that Kamiya and Sanseito more broadly, despite shouting “Japan First,” have very little concern for the youth of Japan:
“48% of teens in the LGBTQ community have experienced suicidal ideation, and 14% have attempted suicide in the past year.
“You can see how many children are hurt by words like these. Sanseito clearly doesn’t care about children’s lives at all.”
Sapporo-based family and labor specialist law firm Kitaakari Law Office made a statement that came to the same conclusion, and supported it from a legal perspective.
“Opportunities to learn about sexual diversity are crucial for children to overcome isolation and affirm their own identity. The statement “there’s no need to teach them” means that such opportunities are rendered unnecessary, and as a result, children remain isolated and in danger. From my perspective as someone who has dealt with various human rights issues in legal practice, I must point out that this is an issue directly related to the safety of children.”
Even accounts that normally focus on other subjects, such as Michael Sano, who is a squid enthusiast, regularly posting interesting facts and pictures of the marine molluscs, interrupted his usual content posting to say:
“I’ve never once felt shame for being a sexual minority, but I’ve always been ashamed of hiding without fighting.
“I won’t hide anymore.
“I’ll fight against statements like this.
“I won’t forgive you.”
More forcefully, leftist anti-discrimination activist Takumi Sadatomo wrote:
“Shut up, you garbage!
“Being queer is the best!”
Finally, on 21 April, a joint statement was released by the Yumi Yanagiya, who serves as the Chairperson of the Sapporo Rainbow Pride Executive Committee, and supporting organizations of Sapporo Rainbow Pride in response to Kamiya’s diatribe. The statement beautifully demonstrates the dedication of Sapporo Rainbow Pride and its participants to creating a society free from discrimination. We highly recommend reading the statement in its entirety, but we would also like to close this article, which it was necessary for us to write to draw attention to the ongoing struggles that LGBTQ+ people still face, with an extract from Sapporo Rainbow Pride’s moving response:
“Among us are organizations that create safe spaces for LGBTQ youth in their teens and twenties and offer LINE-based counseling on sexuality. Every day, young people come to these organizations seeking advice, struggling with their gender identity, unable to confide in anyone, and suffering from the fear that “there’s something wrong with me.”
“Learning about sexual diversity is a crucial opportunity for these children to realize that they are not alone and that it’s okay to be themselves.
“To publicly dismiss such behavior as “irrelevant” or “not worth teaching” silencing these children’s cries for help and deepening their isolation.
“We know of the children who are suffering in this town, in Hokkaido.
“That’s precisely why we cannot overlook this statement.
“We have been working towards a society where everyone can live authentically, through various activities such as exchange meetings, counseling services, education and training, lawsuits, petitions, and Pride Parades. We are deeply concerned about the impact these remarks will have not only on Hokkaido but on society as a whole.
“For 30 years, citizens in Hokkaido have been actively working to protect the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people. We will continue our efforts from Hokkaido to create a society where sexual diversity is naturally respected.”
