The Happiness Realization Party (幸福実現党), abbreviated as Kōfuku (幸福), is a Japanese political party founded by Ryuho Okawa on 23 May 2009. The HRP is the political wing of the conservative Happy Science religious movement. Okawa was the president of the party until his death on 2 March 2023.

Electoral history

In 2009, the party had 345 candidates, placing it on the ballots of 99% of Japan's 300 constituencies. Many perennial candidates such as Yoshiro Nakamatsu joined the HRP. Despite fielding a total of more than 1 million votes, the party did not win any seats in the election. In 2012, the party again failed to gain any seats. As of April 2018, the party had 21 elected local councilors.

Policies

According to its manifesto, the group's goal is to more than double Japan's population to 300 million through making child-rearing easier for mothers and accepting foreigners as workforce. It also aims to change the pacifist Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution in order to increase Japan's economic and military power. The group identifies itself as "conservative" and is generally considered a right-wing, or a radical right party. The party advocates a nuclear deterrent for Japan, denies that the Nanjing Massacre occurred and has called for China to be expelled from the United Nations Security Council. The party has formed links to the American right, having attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2012, and bringing with them members of the Tokyo Tea Party, supporting low tax. In 2022, the party has expressed sympathy for Russia's position following the Invasion of Ukraine, criticizing the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Administration

Jay Aeba, also known as Jikido Aeba (饗庭直道, あえば直道, Aeba Jikido), was, of May 2012, advisor of the Republican National Committee of the United States in charge of Asia, with Yuki Oikawa as one of the officials of HRP.

President

Leaders

Criticism

According to The Japan Times, "for many, the Happies smell suspiciously like a cult". The party has released promotional videos that claim North Korea and China are plotting to invade and colonize Japan after first subduing it through nuclear warfare. The party has been accused of expressing anti-Korean sentiment, although they deny this. However, they deny that Koreans were forced to labor in World War II, and deny that comfort women (many of whom were Korean) were forced to perform their work. To this end, Okawa once said that: "Those Koreans who presented sob stories decades later were plucked from weepy funerals and "bribed" to blacken Japan’s name, such lies now being firmly "embedded in Korean culture"."