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Hidehisa Otsuji

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Hidehisa Otsuji
尾辻 秀久
Official portrait, 2004
President of the House of Councillors
In office
3 August 2022 – 11 November 2024
Preceded byAkiko Santo
Succeeded byMasakazu Sekiguchi
Vice President of the House of Councillors
In office
30 July 2010 – 26 December 2012
PresidentTakeo Nishioka
Kenji Hirata
Preceded byAkiko Santō
Succeeded byMasaaki Yamazaki
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare
In office
27 September 2004 – 31 October 2005
Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi
Preceded byChikara Sakaguchi
Succeeded byJirō Kawasaki
Member of the House of Councillors
Assumed office
24 July 1989
ConstituencyNational PR
(1989-2013)
Kagoshima at-large
(2013-present)
Personal details
Born (1940-10-02) 2 October 1940 (age 84)
Kaseda, Kagoshima, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo

Hidehisa Otsuji (尾辻 秀久, Otsuji Hidehisa, born October 2, 1940) is a Japanese politician who served as the President of the House of Councillors from 2022 to 2024. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of the House of Councillors since 1989, serving as Vice President of the House of Councillors from 2010 to 2012 and as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare from 2004 to 2005.

Early life and education

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He was born in Kaseda City in Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. During the Pacific War, his father, Shuichi, was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy and captain of the destroyer Yūgiri. In 1943, he went down with the ship in the Battle of Cape St. George.[1]

Otsuji briefly attended the National Defense Academy but dropped out in 1961 to support his sister after their mother died. He later attended the prestigious University of Tokyo, but again dropped out.[1]

From his own account, Otsuji was unhappy with university education. Reflecting on his youth as en elderly politician, he noted the social unrest at the time and protests against the government of Prime Minister Kishi, and said that lectures were rarely held and there was no worthwhile education to be had. Instead, he took the time to travel the world and visited close to 80 countries over a period of five years. In 1971 he returned to Japan and officially withdrew from Tokyo University and returned to Kagoshima.[1]

Political career

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Otsuji in the Koizumi Cabinet, September 27, 2004.

Resolving to become a politician, Otsuji was elected to the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly in 1979. He was defeated in his run for the House of Representatives in 1986 but was elected to the House of Councillors in 1989.

He served as Parliamentary Vice Minister in the Management and Coordination Agency in 1992, Parliamentary Vice Minister in the Okinawa Development Agency in 1994 and Senior Vice Minister of Finance in 2001. In 2004 he was appointed Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi, serving as such until 2005.[2]

Otsuji was elected Vice President of the House of Councillors following the 2010 House of Councillors election. In December 2012 he resigned to become President of the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association and served as such until 2014.[3][4]

In August 2022, Otsuji was elected President of the House of Councillors.[5]

Otsuji is affiliated to the conservative organization Nippon Kaigi.[6]

Otsuji is also the author of several books, including "Africa Travel Diary" and "Going to Bokemon World." "Bokemon" is a word from the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese meaning "recklessly strong".

References

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  1. ^ a b c "尾辻 秀久 プロフィール". www.otsuji.gr.jp. Hidehisa Otsuji. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Mr. OTSUJI Hidehisa". www.sangiin.go.jp. House of Councillors, The National Diet of Japan. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ^ "尾辻参院副議長、辞任意向伝える 遺族会会長に内定で". www.nikkei.com. Nikkei, Inc. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  4. ^ "尾辻遺族会会長が辞任の意向". www.nikkei.com. Nikkei, Inc. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  5. ^ "参議院 新議長に自民 尾辻秀久氏 副議長に立民 長浜博行氏選出". www3.nhk.or.jp. NHK. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  6. ^ Nippon Kaigi website
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House of Councillors
Preceded by
50-member district
Member of the House of Councillors by proportional representation
1989–2013
Succeeded by
48-member district
Preceded by Member of the House of Councillors from Kagoshima
2013–present
Incumbent
Preceded by
Masakazu Yamamoto
Chairman of the Committee on Health and Welfare
1998–1999
Succeeded by
Yasu Kano
Preceded by Chairman of the Budget Committee
2006–2007
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice President of the House of Councillors
2010–2012
Succeeded by
President of the House of Councillors
2022–2024
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan
2004–2005
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councillors
2007–2010
Succeeded by