So, Shintaro Ishihara, who had abruptly quit the Tokyo governorship in October, set up a political party named Taiyo no To, then merged it with Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's political party that doesn't sound like one, Nippon Ishin no Kai. Another political party that doesn't sound like one, Tachiagare Nippon, joined them.
All this looks like kids' rigmarole. It may become a portent political force, though. The tea party in the U.S., which started out looking like a fringe movement, has.
The "official" English names of the first two parties — The Sunrise Party and The Japan Restoration Party — may not immediately make it clear, but their Japanese names come with some baggage, as it were.
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