is a Japanese

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic Part ...

, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).

Career

A native of Fukuoka city and graduate of the Faculty of Letters at

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

, Ryu was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2003 after working at

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

in the Marketing and Broadcasting departments. His profile on the DPJ website also states that he serves as Chief Vice Secretary General and Deputy Chair, Election Campaign Committee within the party, and that his career also included the following positions: *Parliamentary Secretary of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology *Senior Vice Chair, Diet Affairs Committee *Leader, Kanagawa Prefectural Headquarters, DPJ

Right-wing positions

Affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

, Ryu was a supporter of

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

filmmaker

Satoru Mizushima is a Japanese filmmaker and nationalist. He graduated from Waseda University majoring in German literature. He can often be seen and heard during nationalist rallies in Tokyo, especially during anti-Chinese protests. He denies Japan's destructive ...

's 2007 revisionist film

The Truth about Nanjing is a 2007 film by Japanese nationalist filmmaker Satoru Mizushima about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre (Nanking Massacre). Background and funding Mizushima said he received more than 200 million yen (US$1.8 million) in donations from 5,000 of his su ...

, which denied that the

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

ever occurred, and among the people who signed ‘THE FACTS’, an ad published in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' on June 14, 2007, in order to protest against

United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121 United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121 () is a Resolution (law), resolution about comfort women which Japanese-American Congressman Mike Honda of California's 15th congressional district introduced to the American House of R ...

, and to deny the existence of

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This include ...

for the Imperial military ('

Comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...

'). Ryu gave the following answers to the questionnaire submitted by Mainichi to parliamentarians in 2012:Mainichi 2012
senkyo.mainichi.jp/46shu/kaihyo_area_meikan.html?mid=A14009001001
/ref> *in favor of the revision of the Constitution *in favor of right of collective self-defense (revision of Article 9) *in favor of reform of the National assembly (unicameral instead of bicameral) *in favor of reactivating nuclear power plants *in favor of zero nuclear power by 2030s *in favor of the

relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Over the last five decades there have been various plans for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a United States Marine Corps base located within the urban area of Ginowan City (pop. 93,661) in Okinawa, Japan. Local opposition w ...

(Okinawa) *in favor of evaluating the purchase of Senkaku Islands by Japan *in favor of a strong attitude versus China *against the reform of the Imperial Household that would allow women to retain their Imperial status even after marriage *against the participation of Japan to the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singa ...

*against a nuclear-armed Japan

References

External links

* in Japanese. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryu, Hirofumi Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Keio University alumni Living people 1965 births People from Fukuoka Members of Nippon Kaigi Democratic Party of Japan politicians Nanjing Massacre deniers 21st-century Japanese politicians