Make no mistake—Sugiyama is no fan of the comics. He said he did not watch them, but would defend what he called the rights of those who did. He went so far as to compare people who like such manga with suppressed minority groups such as LGBTQ people in Japan, and blamed the “rise of feminism” in the country for the growing pressure to ban the content.
They're mostly milquetoast socdems or demsocs who distance themselves from AES.
Word on the street is that the rank and file have been getting more militant in response to the LDP getting more fashy, but the leadership is terrified of being likened to past leaders that did terrorism and alienated the masses from the party in the fifties. Still if the LDP (America's puppet party, don't forget) ever collapses the JCP will almost certainly be one of the major players in the resulting realignment.
In the only country more capitalist than America? Of course they are.
I wouldn't say they're more capitalist than America. They do have affordable public healthcare and transportation at least.