Ichirō Ozawa
Ichirō Ozawa (小沢一郎, Ozawa Ichirō, born 24 May 1942) is a Japanese politician and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1969, representing the Iwate 3rd district (Iwate 2nd district prior to the 1996 general election and Iwate 4th district prior to the 2017 general election). He is often dubbed the "Shadow Shōgun" due to his back-room influence.
Ichirō Ozawa | |
|---|---|
小沢一郎 | |
Ozawa in 2013 | |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 7 April 2006 – 16 May 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Junichiro Koizumi Shinzō Abe Yasuo Fukuda Tarō Asō |
| Preceded by | Seiji Maehara |
| Succeeded by | Yukio Hatoyama |
| In office 28 December 1995 – 31 December 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | Tomiichi Murayama Ryutaro Hashimoto |
| Preceded by | Toshiki Kaifu |
| Succeeded by | Naoto Kan |
| Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 28 December 1985 – 22 July 1986 | |
| Prime Minister | Yasuhiro Nakasone |
| Preceded by | Tōru Furuya |
| Succeeded by | Nobuyuki Hanashi |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 27 December 1969 | |
| Constituency | Iwate 2nd (1969–1996) Iwate 4th (1996–2017) Iwate 3rd (2017–2021) Tohoku PR (2021–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 May 1942 Tokyo, Japan |
| Political party | CDP |
| Other political affiliations | LDP (Before 1993) Renewal (1993–1994) New Frontier (1994–1998) Liberal (1998–2003) DPJ (2003–2012) People's Life First (2012) Tomorrow (2012) People's Life (2012–2016) Liberal Party (2016–2019) Democratic Party for the People (2019–2020) |
| Alma mater | Keio University Nihon University |
| Signature | |
| Website | Personal website |
He was initially a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), serving as its secretary general from 1989 to 1991. He left the LDP in 1993 and subsequently served as head of a number of other political parties, first by co-founding the Japan Renewal Party with Tsutomu Hata, which formed a short-lived coalition government with several other parties opposed to the LDP. Ozawa later served as president of the opposition New Frontier Party from 1995 to 1997, president of the Liberal Party from 1998 to 2003 (which was part of a coalition government with the LDP of Keizō Obuchi from 1999 to 2000), president of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from 2006 to 2009 and secretary-general of the DPJ in government from 2009 to 2010.
In July 2012 he left the DPJ with around fifty followers to found the People's Life First party in a protest against the DPJ's plan to raise the Japanese consumption tax. Ozawa's party merged with the newly founded Tomorrow Party of Japan of Shiga governor Yukiko Kada prior to the 2012 general election, in which the party performed poorly. Ozawa and his followers then left to form the Life Party.