Welcome to The Inquiry from the BBC World Service.
I'm William Crawley.
Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer.
For decades, Japan has been seen as stable, centrist and predictable.
The centre-right Liberal Democratic Party, the LDP,
has ruled almost continuously for 70 years, in coalition with Komito for the past 25.
But that grip is weakening.
In July, the coalition lost its majority in Japan's upper house,
just months after losing control of the more powerful...
Lower House, following a major financial scandal.
Still, few predicted what would come next.
A challenge from the far right.
Sansei To, a party founded by a YouTuber spreading anti-vaccine conspiracies,
made a stunning leap from the single seat it won in 2022 to 15 seats,
campaigning under the provocative slogan, Japanese first.
So this week on The Inquiry, we're asking...
Is Japan moving to the right?
To understand the significance of this new political shift in Japan, we need to go back to 1947,
when it enacted a new constitution under Allied occupation, primarily led by the United States.
This was, in effect, the blueprint for a new kind of country.