Photo/Illutration Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya, left, presents former Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers he recruited as advisers on Dec. 25. From right: Masamune Wada, Takashi Uto, Toshinao Nakagawa and Mayuko Toyota. (Amane Sugawara)

The far-right Sanseito party is strengthening its policy team by bringing in several former Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, despite the “baggage” that some of them carry.

Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya announced on Dec. 25 that former Lower House member Toshinao Nakagawa, 55, and former Upper House member Takashi Uto, 51, had been appointed to assist the party’s policy research chief.

The move follows similar appointments to advisory roles for former Lower House member Mayuko Toyota, 51, in September and former Upper House member Masamune Wada, 51, earlier this month.

Together, the four former LDP lawmakers will form the core of Sanseito’s policy‑planning team.

For now, all four are considered party staff rather than prospective candidates for future national elections.

“I know some may mock us as ‘another LDP,’ but I asked them to help us accomplish things the LDP can’t,” Kamiya said.

Sanseito made significant gains in the July Upper House election with its nationalist ideology and its anti‑immigrant, anti‑globalism policies.

It currently has 18 Diet members--three in the Lower House and 15 in the Upper House. Of them, 16 are first‑term lawmakers, including Kamiya himself.

“With so many newcomers, we felt acutely that we lacked the strength to compete with other parties,” Kamiya said. “We need people with real experience.”

However, some of the new advisers also have experience in controversy.

Nakagawa left the LDP in 2017 following reports of an affair. His father, Hidenao Nakagawa, served as LDP secretary‑general and chief Cabinet secretary, and reportedly opposes his son’s move to Sanseito.

Toyota also resigned from the LDP in 2017 after revelations that she verbally and physically abused her aide.