Tomohiro Ishikawa (石川 知裕, Ishikawa Tomohiro, born June 18, 1973) is a former member of the House of Representatives elected to the 11th District of Hokkaidō, Japan.[2] He is a former secretary to former Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary-General Ichirō Ozawa. After Satoshi Arai's candidacy to the 2007 Hokkaido gubernatorial election, Ishikawa took up the seat vacated by Arai through the PR list. In the 2009 DPJ landslide, Ishikawa famously unseated then-incumbent Finance Minister Shōichi Nakagawa.
Tomohiro Ishikawa | |
|---|---|
石川知裕 | |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 23 September 2007 – 21 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Shōichi Nakagawa |
| Succeeded by | Yūko Nakagawa |
| Constituency |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 June 1973 Ashoro, Hokkaido, Japan |
| Political party | CDP |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | Kaori Ishikawa (2011–present) |
| Children | 2[1] |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | Official website |
In 2010, Ishikawa was embroiled in a political funding scandal involving Ichirō Ozawa. He allegedly failed to record 400 million yen he and other secretaries borrowed from Ozawa to buy land in Tokyo.[3] After he was indicted in February 2010, he resigned from the DPJ and sat in the House as an independent. Ishikawa retained his seat during the appeal process. He joined New Party Daichi in 2011 and contested the 2012 election under their banner. He was defeated in his seat by Yūko Nakagawa, who is married to Shōichi Nakagawa. However, he returned to the House though the NPD's PR list.
His legal issues led him to resign from his seat in May 2013, when he decided to fully focus on his appeal to the Supreme Court. He was replaced by NPD leader Muneo Suzuki's daughter Takako, who was next in line in the PR list.[4] His appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court in September 2014 and he was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years.[5]
Ishikawa has had limited involvement in politics since then. He returned to the DPJ in 2015. He completed a master's course at Hosei University in 2016, majoring in political science. As part of the degree, he conducted a comparative study between the New Labour reforms of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the DPJ.
In the 2017 election, Ishikawa's wife Kaori was elected to his former 11th district seat, defeating Yūko Nakagawa.
References
edit- ^ Rich, Motoko (21 October 2017). "Japan Ranks Low in Female Lawmakers. An Election Won't Change That". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017.
- ^ Yahoo!みんなの政治 - 石川 知裕 - 基本情報 (in Japanese). Yahoo! Japan. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
- ^ "No merit to Ozawa indictment recommendation, accused former secretary tells Mainichi - the Mainichi Daily News". Archived from the original on 2010-05-14. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
- ^ Kyodo News (17 May 2013). "Ex-Ozawa aide convicted over fund scandal to quit as Diet member". Japan Times. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ 「再審請求を準備」 国政復帰に意欲 石川知裕氏会見 (in Japanese). Tokachi Mainichi Shimbun. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2017.