explicit conservatism nationalist stances and expansionist military ambitions. Abe tended to use ambiguous terms to describe his national agenda on controversial issues such as history education and intentionally avoided backlash from the public to equate him as an imperial leader. In order to justify military expansions, Abe framed his security agenda as proactive pacifism, enabling Japan to exercise collective self-defense. Japan's remilitarization is mostly due to security concerns of North Korea's nuclear weapon program and China's rise in the East, as well as aligning with the US's aim to create alliances to contain China's global rise and deter North Korea's nuclear threat. Both the Obama administration and the Trump administration encouraged Japan's rearmament. Trump openly called for rapid Japanese rearmament, more due to discontent that the US support Japan while Japan does not have to do anything in return, less on prudence. Some scholars argue that the resurgence of ultra-nationalist tendency as solely an elite-driven process as the public remains pacifist, and overall public support is not required for politicians to achieve a nationalist agenda because of the low voter turnout. Nationalist right-wing groups In 1996, the National Police Agency estimated that there were over 1,000 extremist right-wing groups in Japan, with about 100,000 members in total. These groups are known in Japanese as Uyoku dantai. While there are political differences among the groups, they generally carry a philosophy of anti-leftism, hostility towards People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and occasionally the United States of America, and justification of Japan's role in World War II. Uyoku dantai groups are well known for their highly visible propaganda vehicles fitted with loudspeakers and prominently marked with the name of the group and propaganda slogans. The vehicles play patriotic or wartime-era songs. Activists affiliated with such groups have used Molotov cocktails and time bombs to intimidate moderate politicians and public figures, including former Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka and Fuji Xerox Chairman Yotaro Kobayashi. An ex-member of a right-wing group set fire to LDP politician Koichi Kato's house. Koichi Kato and Yotaro Kobayashi had spoken out against Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine. Openly revisionist, Nippon Kaigi is considered "the biggest right-wing organization in Japan". Nationalist right-wing political parties Greater Japan Patriotic Party (1951–present) Liberal Democratic Party (1955–present) National Socialist Japanese Workers' Party (1982–present) Japan Nation Party (1988–present) Ishin Seitō Shimpū (1995–present) Sunrise Party (2010–2012) Japan Restoration Party (2012–2014) Japan Innovation Party