The founder and secretary general of Japan's nationalist Sanseito political party, 47-year-old Sohei Kamiya, was the single biggest winner in Sunday's election for the upper house of parliament.

Young, charismatic and keenly attentive to the grievances of millions of Japanese, Kamiya campaigned on promises of adhering to traditional values, encouraging national pride, tax cuts, greater defense spending and a raft of populist policies, all under the slogan of "Japanese First."

An unmistakable echo of US President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement, Kamiya similarly blames foreigners for many of Japan's woes.

The party has centered its messaging on a "silent invasion" by foreigners who want to take advantage of the nation's wealth but refuse to follow its customs and laws, as well as difficult and uncouth overseas tourists.

Kamiya's campaign clearly struck a nerve with Japanese who have become disaffected with the existing political parties.

Most notably the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been the nation's most influential party almost uninterrupted since 1955, has now suffered crushing defeats in elections for the two houses of parliament in the space of nine months.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of politics and international relations at Tokyo's Waseda University, told DW that Sanseito has been able to tap into public grievances with traditional political parties.

"People have been unhappy with all the problems that........

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