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Akihiro Ota

Akihiro Ota(Quá điền chiêu hoành,Ōta Akihiro,born October 6, 1945)is a Japanesepoliticianof theKomeito Party,currently serving his seventh term in theHouse of Representativesin theNational Diet.Ota has represented three districts within theTokyometropolis since first entering thenational Dietin 1993. He served as chief representative of the Komeito Party from 2006 until the general election in September 2009, at which time he lost his seat in the Diet. Upon his return to the House in December 2012, Ota was appointed as theMinister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,a post he held until October 2015.

Akihiro Ota
Quá điền chiêu hoành
Official portrait, 2012
Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
In office
26 December 2012 – 7 October 2015
Prime MinisterShinzo Abe
Preceded byYuichiro Hata
Succeeded byKeiichi Ishii
Chief Representative of theNew Komeito Party
In office
30 September 2006 – 8 September 2009
Preceded byTakenori Kanzaki
Succeeded byNatsuo Yamaguchi
Member of theHouse of Representatives
In office
19 December 2012 – 14 October 2021
Preceded byAi Aoki
Succeeded byMitsunari Okamoto
ConstituencyTokyo 12th
In office
18 July 1993 – 21 September 2009
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byAi Aoki
ConstituencyTokyo 9th(1993–1996)
Tokyo PR(1996–2003)
Tokyo 12th (2003–2009)
Personal details
Born(1945-10-06)October 6, 1945(age 79)
Shinshiro, Aichi,Japan
Political partyKomeito(1990–1994; 1998–present)
Other political
affiliations		New Frontier(1994–1998)
Alma materKyoto University

Ota has been involved with Komeito and theSoka Gakkaimovement since graduation from university and was called "Komeito's prince" earlier in his career.

Early life and career

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Ota was born inShinshiro,Aichi Prefectureand grew up in the neighbouring city ofToyohashi,graduating from Seiryo Junior High School andJishukan High School[ja]within the city. Ota attendedKyoto Universityand received aBachelor of Engineeringdegree inCivil Engineeringin 1968 and aMaster of Engineeringdegree in 1971.[1][2]Whilst studying at Kyoto University Ota was captain of the school'ssumoclub.[3]

In April 1971 Ota was employed in the newspaper office of theKomeito Party,a political party affiliated with theSoka Gakkai.As a journalist for theKomei Shimbun,Ota was responsible for reporting political affairs in theNational Dietand was also an editorial writer.[1]Ota stayed with the paper for 18 months,[4]after which he continued to progress through the elite course of the Soka Gakkai organization, serving as head of their youth wing in 1982 and earning the nickname "the Prince of Komeito".[5]

Political career

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Early career (1990–2003)

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Ota first contested for a seat in theHouse of Representativesat the1990 general election.He contested the formerTokyo 8th district,finishing fourth in the race for three seats, 5,199 votes behind theJapanese Communist PartycandidateMitsuhiro Kaneko[ja].[6]At the1993 general electionthe 8th district's representation was reduced to two members and Ota switched to the three-memberTokyo 9th district[ja],seeking to replace the retiring Komeito memberIwao Nakamura[ja].He received 18.4% of the vote (75358 votes), the most out of the ten candidates in the race.[7]

1994 electoral reform saw the dissolution of Tokyo's eleven multi-member districts, which were replaced with 25 single-member districts plus a 19-memberproportional representation (PR) blockrepresenting the entire metropolis. The majority of the area covered by the 9th district that Ota represented became theTokyo 11th district,whilst the remaining portion became part of theTokyo 12th district.In December 1994 the Komeito Party dissolved and Ota joined theNew Frontier Party,becoming a deputy secretary-general of the party in the same year.[1]Ota contested the first election under the new system of districts in August 1996, retaining his seat in the Diet as one of 5 successful New Frontier candidates in the Tokyo PR block, where the party received 24.6% of the vote.[8]

In 1998 the New Frontier Party dissolved and Komeito reformed; Ota was chosen as the reformed party's secretary-general.[1]In theJune 2000 general electionOta was Komeito's number one candidate in the Tokyo PR block and the party received 12.7% of the vote.[9]After the election he was selected as chairman of the party's Diet Affairs Committee.[2]

Komeito party leadership and loss (2003–2009)

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At the subsequentNovember 2003 general electionOta switched from the Tokyo PR block to the single-memberTokyo 12th district,which representsKita Wardand part ofAdachi Ward.The district had been represented since its inception byLiberal Democratic Party(JDP) memberEita Yashiro[ja],who swapped with Ota to run as a candidate in the Tokyo PR block. Within Kita Ward, Ota was outvoted byDemocratic Party of Japan(DPJ) candidateYukihisa Fujita45% to 41%, with the third candidate, Mitsuo Yamakishi of theJapanese Communist Partyreceiving the remaining 14%. However, in Adachi Ward Ota received 52% of the vote, which was enough for him to defeat Fujita 44.1% to 42.4%.[10]The small margin of defeat allowed Fujita to claim one of the DPJ's seats in the Tokyo PR block.

At thenext election in September 2005,Yashiro returned to contest the Tokyo 12th district as an independent candidate after voting against the LDP-Komeito coalition's postal reform bills and resigning from the LDP in protest in July. In a four-candidate contest, Ota retained the seat with 43.2% of the vote, suffering only a slight decrease from 2003. Fujita's vote fell to just 29.1% as Yashiro and the Communist Party candidate Ken Nonoyama took 10.3% and 17.4% respectively.[11]The large margin between Ota and Fujita meant the latter failed to retain his seat in the Tokyo PR block.

In September 2006Takenori Kanzakiresigned as leader of Komeito, having led the party since its reformation in 1998. In the ensuing party vote Ota was elected unopposed to replace him.[4]Whilst at the helm of the party, Komeito suffered a decline in popularity as the junior coalition partner of the ailing LDP, who had had six different prime ministers during the ten-year period of coalition. This culminated in the coalition suffering a major defeat in the2009 general electionand power transferring to theDemocratic Party of Japan.Komeito lost ten seats in the election, including Ota's, who was defeated byHouse of CouncillorsmemberAi Aoki.Ota was standing as a candidate in his Tokyo 12th district, but was not named as a PR block candidate in the case of being defeated, meaning he was left without a seat in the House after five terms and 16 years.[5]He was replaced as party leader byNatsuo Yamaguchion 8 September 2009.[12]

Return to Diet (2012–present)

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Ota returned to the Diet at the2012 general election,which also returned the LDP-Komeito coalition to power in a landslide victory over the DPJ. Ota defeated Aoki, who had defected from the DPJ to theTomorrow Party,by more than double, claiming 51.4% of the vote to Aoki's 25.4%, although Aoki managed to win a PR block seat.[13][14]Following the election Ota became a member of the cabinet for the first time, with Prime MinisterShinzo Abegiving him the position ofMinister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.[4]Ota comfortably retained his seat at the2014 general election,receiving more votes than Aoki and Communist Party candidateSaori Ikeuchicombined.[15]He maintained his role in the ministry until be was replaced by fellow Komeito memberKeiichi Ishiiin October 2015.[16]

Political views

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Ota is a prominent voice within the government for better preparation against large-scale earthquakes. He has been a proponent of quake-proofing schools since entering politics in 1993[4]and became the chairman of Komeito's committee on disasters in 2004.[2]His appointment to the land, infrastructure, transport and tourism portfolio in 2012 was due to Prime MinisterShinzo Abeagreeing with his views on the necessity for disaster prevention to be incorporated into building projects.[17]

Ota is said to be a member of theAlliance for Promoting the Assessment of a New Constitution,which promotes constitutional revision.[18]

References

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  1. ^abcd"Chính trị gia tình báo 〜 quá điền chiêu hoành 〜"[Politician's information – Akihiro Ota] (in Japanese). Archived fromthe originalon 3 December 2007.Retrieved4 July2016.
  2. ^abc"Akihiro OHTA (The Cabinet) Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet".3 September 2014.Retrieved4 July2016.
  3. ^"プロファイル".Retrieved11 July2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^abcd"Abe Cabinet (Formed December 26, 2012)".Japan Times. December 2012.Retrieved4 July2016.
  5. ^abYamada, Akihiro (21 August 2009)."《 đảng đầu がゆく: Công minh đảng ・ quá điền chiêu hoành đại biểu 》 trọng ねた tân ôm hỏi い thẳng す nguyên điểm"[[Leader's Journey: Komeito president Akihiro Ota) Accumulated patience is the basis for re-questioning] (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun.Retrieved4 July2016.
  6. ^"Đông Kinh 8 khu đệ 40 hồi chúng Nghị Viện nghị viên tuyển cử"[Tokyo 8th district 40th House of Representatives election] (in Japanese). Archived fromthe originalon 21 August 2009.Retrieved4 July2016.
  7. ^"Đông Kinh 9 khu đệ 40 hồi chúng Nghị Viện nghị viên tuyển cử"[Tokyo 9th district 40th House of Representatives election] (in Japanese). Archived fromthe originalon 18 August 2009.Retrieved4 July2016.
  8. ^"Đông Kinh đệ 41 hồi chúng Nghị Viện nghị viên tuyển cử"[Tokyo 41st House of Representatives Election] (in Japanese). Archived fromthe originalon 27 August 2009.Retrieved1 July2016.
  9. ^"Chúng Nghị Viện nghị viên tuyển cử ( bình thành 12 năm ngày 25 tháng 6 chấp hành ) ( tỉ lệ đại biểu tuyển ra ) danh bộ giới ra chính đảng đừng đến số phiếu"[House of Representatives Election (25 June 2000 (Proportional Representation Block) Number of Votes per Registered Party] (in Japanese). Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Commission.Retrieved4 July2016.
  10. ^"Chúng Nghị Viện nghị viên tuyển cử ( bình thành 15 năm ngày 9 tháng 11 chấp hành ) ( tiểu tuyển cử khu tuyển ra ) mở hòm phiếu kết quả"[House of Representatives Election (9 November 2003) (Single-Member Districts) Results] (in Japanese). Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Commission.Retrieved4 July2016.
  11. ^"Chúng Nghị Viện nghị viên tuyển cử ( bình thành 17 năm ngày 11 tháng 9 chấp hành ) ( tiểu tuyển cử khu tuyển ra ) mở hòm phiếu kết quả kỹ càng tỉ mỉ"[House of Representatives Election (11 September 2005) (Single-Member Districts) Detailed Results] (in Japanese). Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Commission.Retrieved4 July2016.
  12. ^The Japan TimesAiling New Komeito taps policy chief as new Boss September 8 2009Retrieved on August 8, 2012
  13. ^"Đông Kinh tiểu tuyển cử khu mở hòm phiếu kết quả tổng tuyển cử 2012"[Tokyo Districts Results, General Election 2012] (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. Archived fromthe originalon 24 August 2018.Retrieved4 July2016.
  14. ^"Đông Kinh 【 tỉ lệ đại biểu 】 mở hòm phiếu kết quả tổng tuyển cử 2012"[Tokyo [PR Block] Results, General Election 2012] (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun.Retrieved4 July2016.
  15. ^"Mở hòm phiếu kết quả ・ tốc báo ( tiểu tuyển cử khu ・ Đông Kinh ) chúng viện tuyển 2014"[Results (Districts – Tokyo) House of Representatives Election 2014] (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. Archived fromthe originalon 24 August 2018.Retrieved27 June2016.
  16. ^"In Cabinet reshuffle, Abe shifts focus to economy but retains key ministers".Japan Times.7 October 2015.Retrieved4 July2016.
  17. ^"Kawaguchi in lead for top diplomat post".Japan Times.25 December 2012.Retrieved4 July2016.
  18. ^"The Abe Cabinet - an Ideological Breakdown".
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chief Representative of theNew Komeito Party
2006–2009 		Succeeded by
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