Mario Alberto Ishii (born 22 June 1951) is an Argentine politician of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

, currently serving as ''

intendente An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

'' (mayor) of José C. Paz, a '' partido'' in the

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

metropolitan area. He is popularly known as ''El Japonés'' ("the Japanese") due to his Japanese heritage. He was first elected mayor in 1999, and continued to be so until 2013, when he was elected to the as

Buenos Aires Province Senate The Senate of Buenos Aires Province ( es, Senado de la provincia de Buenos Aires) is the upper house of the Legislature of Buenos Aires Province, the largest and most populous of Argentina's provinces. It comprises 43 members elected in eight mult ...

. In 2015, he was once again elected mayor. In August 2020 a video was leaked, showing him accusing city workers of selling drugs in municipal ambulances and saying he had to cover for them, causing major national media attention and a legal case to be opened. He then claimed that when he said "drugs" he had meant "medicines".

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1951 births Living people Argentine politicians of Japanese descent Mayors of José C. Paz, Buenos Aires Members of the Buenos Aires Province Senate People from José C. Paz Partido 21st-century Argentine politicians {{Argentina-politician-stub