TOKYO, Oct 2, (AP): Outside a train station near Tokyo, hundreds of people cheer as Sohei Kamiya, head of the surging nationalist party Sanseito, criticizes Japan’s rapidly growing foreign population. As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense.

Sanseito, while still a minor party, made big gains in July’s parliamentary election, and Kamiya's "Japanese First” platform of anti-globalism, anti-immigration and anti-liberalism is gaining broader traction ahead of a ruling party vote Saturday that will choose the likely next prime minister. Anti-immigrant policies, which allow populists to vent their dissatisfaction on easy targets, are appealing to more Japanese as they struggle with dwindling salaries, rising prices and bleak future outlooks.

"Many Japanese are frustrated by these problems, though we are too reserved to speak out. Mr Kamiya is spelling them all out for us,” said Kenzo Hagiya, a retiree in the audience who said the "foreigner problem” is one of his biggest concerns. The populist surge comes as Japan, a traditionally insular nation that values conformity and uniformity, sees a record surge of foreigners needed to bolster its shrinking workforce.

In September, angry protests fueled by social media misinformation about a looming flood of African immigrants quashed a government-led exchange program between four Japanese municipalities and African nations. Even the governing party, which has promoted foreign labor and tourism, now calls for tighter restrictions on foreigners, but without showing how Japan, which has one of the world's fastest-aging and fastest-dwindling populations, can economically stay afloat without them.

"We only want to protect the peaceful lives and public safety of the Japanese,” he said at the rally in Yokohama, a major residential area for foreigners. Japanese people tolerate foreigners who respect the "Japanese way,” but those who cling to their own customs are not accepted because they intimidate, cause stress and anger the Japanese, he said.

Kamiya said the government was allowing foreign workers into the country only to benefit big Japanese businesses. "Why do foreigners come first when the Japanese are struggling to make ends meet and suffering from fear?” Kamiya asked. "We are just saying the obvious in an obvious way. Attacking us for racial discrimination is wrong.”

All five candidates competing in Saturday's governing Liberal Democratic Party leadership vote to replace outgoing Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister are vowing tougher measures on foreigners. One of the favorites, former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hardline ultra-conservative, was criticized for championing unconfirmed claims that foreign tourists abused deer at a park in Nara, her hometown.