Photo/Illutration Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya’s post about his meeting with Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (Captured from Kamiya’s X account)

The head of Sanseito, the rising opposition party with a “Japanese First” agenda, touted a message of support he received from the joint leader of a controversial German far-right party.

In a post on the social media platform X on Aug. 5, Sohei Kamiya said he exchanged views with Tino Chrupalla of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) for an hour at his office in the Diet in Tokyo the same day.

“I explained Sanseito’s policies and stance and received a message of encouragement: ‘I want you to stay firmly on that path,’” he wrote. “I hope to visit Europe soon.”

Sanseito, which was formed in 2020, captured 14 seats in the July 20 Upper House election. It had only one seat up for re-election.

The AfD, Germany’s largest opposition party, has been gaining momentum with its hostile stance toward immigrants and refugees.

It became the country’s second-largest party for the first time in the general election held in February, doubling its share of the vote from the previous poll.

In May, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, temporarily designated the AfD as a “right-wing extremist” group.

The Social Democratic Party of Germany, a member of the country’s ruling coalition, has stated that the AfD’s platform may be unconstitutional.

(This article was written by Takashi Kida and Taro Saito.)