The following is from an article by Ms. Kaori Arimoto that appeared in the October 26 issue of the monthly magazine "Hanada."

The Impact of the Japanese Conservative Party! to strengthen our resolve and struggle to run
The Aftermath of the "Party Formation Press Conference　
On October 17, we held a press conference and party to form the Japan Conservative Party (from now on referred to as "Conservative Party"), a political organization founded by writer Naoki Hyakuta and myself.　
On the same day, almost all media outlets, including NHK, Kyodo, Jiji, Yomiuri, Asahi, and Mainichi, as well as Fuji Sankei, reported the event widely.
After the establishment of the organization in September, the existing media completely ignored the party, regardless of whether it overtook the LDP in the number of followers on X (formerly Twitter) or gathered 30,000 party members in a single day, but the situation has changed drastically.　
The reason is apparent: on that day, we announced that we had invited Takashi Kawamura, the incumbent mayor of Nagoya, one of Japan's largest cities, to become the "co-chairman" of the Conservative Party.　
At the same time, we announced a "special fraternal relationship" affiliation with Kawamura's regional party, Tax Reduction Japan. 
Also, we welcomed Ichiro Hirosawa, a close associate of Kawamura's who served as deputy mayor of Nagoya as deputy secretary general of the party.　
From the time of the founding of the Conservative Party, Mr. Hyakuta's and my "weaknesses" were also apparent.
We had no practical experience in politics.
However, Mr. Kawamura, a veteran politician who had served five terms in the House of Representatives and four terms as mayor of Nagoya and who was not an heir to the House of Representatives, and his close associate, Mr. Hirosawa, a strong election candidate, would be a perfect match to complement our weaknesses.　
Some may ask, "Why Kawamura? Some people may ask, "Why Kawamura?" But the majority of the same people have been saying, "After all, Hyakuta and Arimoto are amateurs in politics. Because most of the same people used to ridicule us, saying, "Hyakuta and Arimoto are just amateurs in politics and don't know how to fight an election," it is easy to see why working with Mr. Kawamura was so effective.　
Mayor Takashi Kawamura is indeed a man of many accolades and criticisms.　
I can understand the opinion that his Nagoya dialect sounds sloppy, and his recent "medal-biting" and "God of Allah" comments are certainly not acceptable.
I have also complained directly about such "unintentional remarks.　
However, we must not forget Kawamura's excellent, even outstanding, point.　
When I first became acquainted with Mr. Kawamura in 2012, he stubbornly refused to back down on his so-called "Nanjing remarks," no matter how much the media beat him up or how much pressure he was subjected to from the local business community.
It was a rare sight in the Japanese political world.　
Eleven years ago, I conducted a lengthy interview with Mr. Kawamura, asking him about his remarks on Nanking and his political beliefs for the first time.

We had thirty thousand party members in one day.
The "Kawamura shock" helped the Conservative Party to appear in the "national media finally." Still, I would like to look back and summarize the party's history up to this point.　
It all started in June when Mr. Hyakuta, angered by the LDP's push for LGBT legislation, suddenly announced that he would launch a new party.
I agreed with him, and we spent a month working on the concept after I said, "Let's work together."
I interviewed people involved in the political world, asked about past attempts to launch a new party, and researched the history of the new party, but it didn't fit.　
I thought that if we were going to do this, we wanted to create a "new party" with a true meaning that had never existed before.
It was the idea that Mr. Hyakuta and I agreed on.
Therefore, we decided to stop listening to people who knew what was happening and to stop looking for people with experience in election and political "administration."　
It would be a good idea to streamline the administrative work thoroughly and, if possible, allow me to handle it independently.　
What was indispensable for this was complete digitization.
To be precise, I did not mean "digitalization," but rather "digitalization from the beginning.　
As many of you know by now, the registration process for party members of our Conservative Party can be completed online, from the entry of personal information to the payment of party dues.
Although this requires an initial investment cost for the system, it is an effective measure to minimize the human resources and administrative costs of party management, and the advantages are much more significant than expected.　
First, it is possible to identify trends in party membership immediately.
It is possible to instantly identify which areas have the most members, the ratio of men to women, and the age of the members.
It is also easy to send out simultaneous communication to party members, recruit them to participate in events, and encourage them to buy party tickets.　
After selecting a vendor, holding detailed discussions, and requesting customization, the system was completed, and the party member recruitment process was launched on September 30.　
Mr. Hyakuta and I had discussed this beforehand.　
If the number of party members reaches only a few hundred in a week, we will withdraw from the project with hesitation. 
We would politely apologize to those 100 people, refund the money, and bow to the public.　
As it turned out, this pessimistic prediction was not to be.
The number of party members began to soar from the start of registration at noon on September 30, topping 10,000 in just two hours and 30,000 24 hours later, before noon on October 1.　
Mr. Hyakuta said.　
"We're off the hook for now. Thank you, Ms. Arimoto."

The number of party members has surpassed that of the Restoration Party.　
According to data from the Gender Equality Bureau of the Cabinet Office, the number of party members of national political parties is as follows.
The Japan Restoration Association has 39914 members, and the Party of Do It Yourself has 39530 members (both as of October 2022).
At this stage, the LDP (1122664), Komeito (450,000), and the Communist Party (260,000) have more members than the Conservative Party.　
As of the 16th, the Conservative Party's membership continues to grow to over 48,000.
Frankly, I had not expected such momentum. 
I am very grateful for this, but at the same time, I am sobered by the situation.　
Even before this party membership drive, when we opened our X (formerly Twitter) account on September 1, the Conservative Party had surpassed the number of followers of the Liberal Democratic Party in just two weeks.
At that time, there was a stir in the Internet community, but on the other hand, "It's just Internet popularity. On the other hand, many people made fun of the fact that the number of followers on Twitter is completely different from the actual number of followers of the party.　
One month later, the party received 30,000 paying party members in a single day, and professional critics began to praise the party.　
Some have praised this situation as a "great accomplishment." Still, I, on the contrary, tilt my head at the existing national political parties' sluggish use of social networking and the Internet.　
The Conservative Party's party member registration system sounds like a good thing, but in fact, it has already had one "failure.
When the party used the system to recruit participants and sell party tickets for the party's "Party Gathering" (a so-called "political fundraising party"), an unexpected situation occurred.　
At noon on October 4, the party ticket was sold out just one hour after the invitation was uploaded.
On social networking sites, we received scolding such as, "I wanted to attend the party, but by the time I realized it was sold out," and "An e-mail should have been sent out to party members informing them of the invitation in advance.　
Never dreaming that several hundred tickets priced at 20,000 yen each would sell out in an hour, I watched the sales start and went out for a leisurely lunch.
When I returned, the place was empty.　
I was surprised at the messages of scolding that poured in.
I am also grateful to have discovered many things that I will try to improve in the future, including the fact that we should have prepared a larger venue in the first place.　
On the other hand, the so-called "anti-conservatives," those who do not feel good about the Conservative Party, also gained momentum.
I received many harsh comments from them, such as, "No matter how popular we are on the Internet, we have no seats in the Diet," and "We are not even a bubble party.　
These are mainly from supporters of the LDP, and they are quite rightly so.
How can we translate this momentum on the Internet into seats in the Diet? 
Needless to say, this is a challenge, and I know it will not be easy, but I dare to say this now.
The Japan Conservative Party will not become a mutual aid association only interested in seats in the Diet or elections.

What are the policies of the Conservative Party of Japan?　
The press conference was followed by the party's "Party Gathering" and the first political fundraising party, both of which went off without a hitch.　
Although there are a few things to reflect on, I am relieved that the party ended successfully and without incident.
The Conservative Party has gotten off to a good start, but some may ask about its key policies.　
I want to share with you here the "Key Policy Items" that we announced on the 17th.　
It consists of 8 subjects and 37 items.
Priority policy items of the Japan Conservative Party (matters to be addressed with priority)
1. Preservation of Japan's national identity and traditional culture
1. Revise the Imperial Household Law to allow for the adoption of children between the Imperial Family and the former Imperial Family.
(2) Complete the wooden restoration of the Nagoya Castle tower.
(iii) Revise the Law for the Promotion of LGBT Understanding (in particular, delete the article on education for children).
2. Security
(iv) Revision of Article 9 of the Constitution (partial deletion of paragraph 2)
(v) Revision of the Self-Defense Forces Law (to enable the rescue of Japanese nationals overseas and Japanese collaborators)
(6) Revision of the Japan Coast Guard Law (to maintain the same level of response capability as the coast guards of other countries)
(vii) Enactment of the "Anti-Spying Law," establishment of specialized intelligence agencies, and related legislation
(viii) Promote subsidies for defense research and government investment in the defense industry.
(ix) Prohibit the acquisition of real estate (especially land) by foreign powers (following the example of Canada).
(x) Strengthen sanctions against domestic collaborators with North Korea to resolve the North Korean abduction issue.
(11) Japanese version of the "Taiwan Relations Act
Enactment 3: Tax cuts and reduction of the national tax burden
⑫ Consumption Tax Reduction: ... First to 8%, then to 5
⑬ Promote local tax reductions nationwide, following the Nagoya model.
⑭ Gasoline tax reduction
⑮ Consider introducing a "bisquare system" to simplify taxes, eliminate unfairness, and address the shortage of town workforce.
4. Diplomacy
⑯ Value diplomacy - further strengthen ties with countries that share values such as freedom, democracy, and human rights
⑰ With China and North Korea in mind, actively work to resolve human rights issues in neighboring countries (enactment of a Japanese version of the Uyghur Human Rights Law and a forced labor prevention law)
5. Stop making lawmakers family business
Reduce the annual salary of Diet members and the remuneration of local Diet members to the same level as that of ordinary citizens.
(⑲) The subsidies for political parties should be reduced to half what they are in other countries.
⑳ The "hereditary succession" of fund management organizations should be reviewed.
6・Reduction of immigration policies - Policies with the national interest in mind
㉒Revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and stricter enforcement of the Act.
㉒Review the management visa system.
㉓Review the government policy of expanding Tokutei Gijutsu 2 (Special Skills 2) and allowing family members to join.
㉔Revise the Health Insurance Law (separate health insurance for foreigners)
7. Energy and Industrial Policy　
(Protect and utilize Japan's superior energy-saving technologies. (Excessive dependence on renewable energy is not in the national interest.)
㉕Remove the renewable energy levy.
(iv) Establish laws prohibiting foreign capital from entering the energy sector.
(㉗Effective utilization of Japan's superior thermal power generation technology
(㉘Remove subsidies for electric vehicles (do not create disadvantages for the Japanese auto industry)
㉙ A fundamental review of the administration of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (increase the working population and production and strongly promote domestic consumption of domestic products)
8. Education and Welfare
㉚Measures against adolescent suicide (do not let even one person die) - Consider abolishing public high school entrance examinations.
㉛Total review of the textbook examination system (especially history) (abolition of the current system)
㉜Abolish the internal examinations and expand career education
㉝Reduce the number of universities due to low birthrates. Reduce subsidies and encourage consolidation.
㉞Review the international student system (carefully select countries of origin from the security perspective).
㉟Review expenditures related to gender equality policies.
㊱Increase lump-sum maternity and childcare allowances (with nationality clauses)
㊲Introduction of a joint custody system (based on a proposal by the Civilian Legislative Council)　
All of these have already been agreed upon with Mayor Kawamura Takashi.
Some circles are perverting Kawamura's past statements and making a fuss about "Kawamura is an LGBT promoter," but they are mistaken.　
It took many hours of discussion and coordination with both Mr. Kawamura and Mr. Hirozawa to reach this agreement, the details of which will be revealed at a later date.　
Thanks to their efforts, the 37-point proposal has been well received by many party members.
And we have received many comments from non-Party members that the policies of the Conservative Party are super decent.　
In the future, we will continue to make various mistakes.
We will run desperately with our stomachs full, so we hope that you will watch over us for a long time to come.