Makoto Sakurai

[[File:Makoto Sakurai 01.JPG|thumb|165px|riight|Makoto Sakurai in front of Ueno Station on July 24, 2016]]
{{Alt-right}}
'''Makoto Sakurai''' (桜井 誠) {{lived|1972}}, also known by his online handle '''Doronpa''', is a [[Japan]]ese [[far-right]] ultra-nationalist, netto-uyoku/alt-rightist. He is the leader of the {{wpl|Japan First Party||.}} He's basically the [[Donald Trump]] of Japan,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHJsoCAREsg</ref> though he's also more like [[Richard Spencer]] than Trump in some ways. Makoto Sakurai is a pen name, and his real name is '''Makoto Takata''' (高田 誠).<ref>[https://twitter.com/Doronpa01/status/862234387806437376 Tweet made by Makoto Sakurai May 10, 2017 5:14]</ref> His [[Twitter]] account was suspended in November 2017.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180901000000*/https://twitter.com/Doronpa01 Doronpa01] ''Twitter'' (archived posts).</ref><ref name="wp">{{wpa|Makoto Sakurai}}</ref>

Makoto was the founder of [[Zaitokukai|Zaitokukai]], a Japanese ultranationalist group. He was the head of the group from 2007 to 2014. Zaitokukai is an organization that makes direct violence against Koreans and other foreigners, though this has been limited to pushing and shouting.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141217144700/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/world/asia/29japan.html?ref=world New Dissent in Japan Is Loudly Anti-Foreign] by Martin Fackler (August 28, 2010) ''The New York Times'' (archived from December 14, 2014).</ref>

He has continued to make extreme [[hate speech]] about Koreans and other foreigners. For example, if you call them cockroaches or insist on killing Koreans, or criticize them in this regard, they say there is no problem because Koreans say Japanese should die. It extended to the point of using derogatory terms to Chinese people during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="gel21">https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14478846</ref>

==Political career==
Sakurai (real name '''Makoto Takata''') started his career as a civil servant in a Tokyo ward office, where he spent much of his time trolling around online and becoming unhealthily obsessed with South Korea, calling it "a rare country that one hates more the more they learn about it." Somehow his trolling managed to book him an appearance on a television program called Jene Jan (ジェネジャン) in 2005, where he was introduced under the pseudonym "Makoto Kimura" (木村誠, Kimura Makoto). Shortly thereafter, he founded the [[Zaitokukai|Zaitokukai]].

Despite repeatedly insisting he would not enter politics, Sakurai announced his candidacy for the Governorship of Tokyo after the then-incumbent resigned over a finance scandal. His catchphrase was "Japan First" [[Donald Trump| 
{{small|sound familiar?}}]] Among his platform promises were:

* Abolish welfare for foreigners
* Create a law banning anti-Japanese hate speech
* Legalize marijuana and send all tax revenue to the Yamaguchi-Gumi yakuza syndicate
* Cancel the establishment of a new Korean school in Tokyo

He came in fifth place, with 114,171 votes or 1.74% of the popular vote. He tried running again in 2020, once more coming in fifth but with an increased vote share of 2.92% (178,784 votes).

Sakurai ran for the Tokyo No. 15 district for the 2021 general election. Despite achieving 33% more votes than his governor's race, he and the other 4 Japan First candidates gained no seat in the diet.<ref name="gel21"/>

==Political position==
He is a politician who is considered a far-right [[populist]] politician even by ultra-conservative Japanese political standards. He is a Japanese supremacist who claims that the Japanese people's ethnic identity is diminished by foreigners coming to Japan and insists that they should not be mixed with other people. It's comparable to the [[white genocide]] [[conspiracy theory]], and he has a very extreme anti-Korean inclination.

While he is opposed to hate speech regulation, he insists on regulating what he considers anti-Japanese hate speech by [[liberal]]s in Japan.

===Differences with mainstream conservatives in Japan===
[[Nationalist]]s such as [[Shinzo Abe]] and Yuriko Koike, who have encroached on Japan's mainstream conservatives, are close to the far-right by European and American standards but tend to control the water level. Makoto Sakurai, on the other hand, tends to be similar to the typical American and European right-wing populist or alt-right. However, Makoto's inclination is closer to alt-right or neo-nazi, not right-wing populism [[alt-lite]].

That's why mainstream conservatives in Japan are distancing themselves from Makoto Sakurai and think they are not extreme rightists.

In Japan, nationalism is common among mainstream conservatives, making it difficult for outsider ultra-rightists like Europe and the United States to gain huge popularity.

He had a dispute with Toru Hashimoto,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/21/japan-hate-speech-debate-abandoned-toru-hashimoto-makoto-sakurai Japanese ‘hate speech’ debate abandoned as insults fly]. '''the [[Guardian]]'''. 21 Oct 2014</ref> the [[neoconservative]] mayor of Osaka. Toru is also a very nationalist, but he is a mainstream conservative politician, so he opposes outright [[racism]] and, unlike Makoto, is in favor of racial-related hate speech regulation.

==Other things==
Incidentally, Sakurai still lives with his mother in Shinjuku, and runs a convenience store part-time.

==See also==
* [[Richard Spencer]]
* [[Jared Taylor]]
* [[Alt-right]]
* [[Netto-uyoku]]

==References==
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[[Category:Japanese politics]]
[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:Antifeminism]]
[[Category:Anti-Korean]]
[[Category:Antisemites]]
[[Category:Anti-Western]]
[[Category:Bloggers]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Great Replacement conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Nationalism in Japan]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazis]]
[[Category:Nippon Kaigi]]
[[Category:Racists]]

Categories: Japanese politics, Alt-right, Antifeminism, Anti-Korean, Antisemites, Anti-Western, Bloggers, Conspiracy theorists, Fascists, Great Replacement conspiracy theorists, Internet kooks, Living people, Nationalism in Japan, Neo-Nazis, Nippon Kaigi, Racists