Populating “the People” for the Activist and Electoral Right

Nathaniel M. Smith

November 27, 2026 / 17:00-18:30 / Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University

In person only / No registration necessary

Conservative and right-wing social movements play an active role in contemporary Japanese civil society, ranging from sometimes violent organized crime-linked street activists to establishment-oriented groups tied to religious interests. Since the 1980s, several notable political parties oriented around right-inflected populism emerged directly from the precincts of activism to pursue electoral politics. More recently, internet-driven populist parties have enjoyed significant electoral success by recruiting—and excluding—particular formulations of “the people.” What is the relationship between the activist right and the electoral right, particularly in the context of a populist notion of “the people”? With a primary focus on the last four decades, this talk explores the history of populist political parties and considers their relationship to forms of street activism and other non-electorally oriented forms of politics in Japan. 

Nathaniel M. Smith is an associate professor in the College and Graduate School of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. An anthropologist by training, his research includes work on activism and social movements, urban studies, and media in Japan. He holds degrees from Yale University, Waseda University, and the University of California, Riverside.

This Lecture Series on Populism and Nationalism is organized by Tina Burrett (Professor of Political Science, Sophia University) for the ICC Research Unit Populism in Comparative Context.