Yukihisa Fujita
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is a Japanese politician of the
Constitutional Democratic Party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...
, a member of the
House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...
, the upper house of Japan's parliament, from the Ibaraki constituency. He is now the DPJ Next Vice Minister of Defense, the DPJ Next Vice Minister for the Abduction Issue, and the Director of Special Committee on North Korea Abduction Issue and Related Matter. He also is a member of Committee on Foreign Affairs and defense. He is a Former Senior Vice Minister of Finance. In the House of Councillors he is a former Chair of the Committee on Financial Affairs. He also is a former Director-General of the DPJ's International Department and a former Chair of the House of Councillors' Special Committee on North Korean Abductions and Other Issues. Fujita is a native of
Hitachi, Ibaraki 250px, Hitachi Sakura Festival is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 174,219 in 78,209 households and a population density of 770 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 w ...
and graduate of
Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...
, Faculty of Letters.


Early life and career

Fujita was born April 19, 1950, in Hitachi, Ibaraki. He graduated from Ibaraki University Junior High School in 1966, and Mito Dai-ichi High School in 1969. He attended the Department of Philosophy, the Faculty of Letters of
Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...
and graduated with a B.A. in 1975. From 1975 to 1977, Fujita participated in the Moral Re-Armament (MRA, now
Initiatives of Change Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a global organisation dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background. Initiatives of Change was known as Moral Re-Armament (MRA) from 1938 to 2001, and the ...
) Goodwill Ambassador "Song of Asia" program, and visited 14 countries with 50 youths from 15 countries in Asia and Oceania staying at about 100 homes in those countries he visited. He has visited 48 countries and has participated in volunteer work in many of those countries. He has had homestays in over 200 homes. Fujita is a founding member of The Association for Aid and Relie
Association for Aid and Relief
an
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
founded in 1979, and later became a member of the board of directors. In 1984, he became a member of the board of directors of the International MRA Association of Japan (No
International IC Association of Japan
. In 1996, Fujita, as a member of the original Democratic Party Of Japan, was first elected to the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan's parliament. He represented the Tokyo proportional representation constituency and was elected with the support of
Yukio Hatoyama is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoy ...
who later became
Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...
. Fujita became known as the country's first national politician with an international NGO background. After losing the 2000 re-election against Eita Yashiro, Fujita served as a policy advisor for Hatoyama, and was elected to the House of Representatives for the second time in 2003. Fujita lost in the 2005 election against
Akihiro Ota is a Japanese politician of the Komeito Party, currently serving his seventh term in the House of Representatives in the National Diet. Ota has represented three districts within the Tokyo metropolis since first entering the national Diet in 1 ...
. In 2007, when the incumbent Moto Kobayashi retired, Fujita ran for election in the House of Councillors. He won Kobayashi's seat, representing Ibaraki, a constituency which tends to be a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) stronghold. Fujita received 540,174 votes, which is a record for a DPJ member in Ibaraki. In 2009, he became the director-general of the International Department, the director of the Committee on Financial Affairs, and the member of the Committee on Audit. In 2010, he was sent by the Democratic Party to facilitate aid efforts following the earthquake in Haiti. In the same year, he was appointed as the chairman of the Committee on Financial Affairs in the House of Councillors. In 2011, he was appointed senior vice minister of finance. In 2012, he became a director, Committee on Fundamental National Policies and member, Judge Impeachment Court. In 2013, he became the chairman of the Committee on Financial Affairs, and later served as chairman, Committee on Fundamental National Policies. His current positions are shadow Vice Minister of Defense, shadow Vice Minister for the Abduction Issue, director, The Special Committee on The North Korea Abduction Issue and Related Matters, and member, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense.


Political positions and policies


Diet Members' League activities

President, Diet Members' League to promote voting by overseas Japanese President, Diet Members' League for international peace building President, Diet Members' League to promote International
Initiatives of Change Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a global organisation dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background. Initiatives of Change was known as Moral Re-Armament (MRA) from 1938 to 2001, and the ...
(IC) Vice President, Diet Members' League to support ex-Japanese POWs in Siberia Member, Diet Members' League to vitalize shopping streets Member, Diet Members' League to promote policies to get out of deflation * Fujita's political slogan is: ''"From Tears To Smiles."'' * In his first term as a member of the House of Representatives, Fujita, as the Secretary General of the Diet Members' League for a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines, helped Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi to sign the
Ottawa Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...
.


Humanitarian assistance in emergency and disaster situations

* In April 2004, the DPJ sent Fujita to Jordan as the Director-General of the DPJ's International Department to rescue th
Japanese NGO workers and journalists who were kidnapped
in neighboring Iraq. * The DPJ sent Fujita to provide operational assistance to Indonesia and Sri Lanka after the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
. * The DPJ sent Fujita Pakistan after the
2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu and ...
. * In January, 2010, the DPJ sent Fujita to Haiti after the earthquake. * In January, 2008, Fujita joined the Diet Members' League to Promote Raising the Legal Status of Korean and Other Settled Foreign Residents, which aims to enfranchise Korean and other permanent foreign residents.


Issues and questions raised in the Japanese Parliament

Fujita, is known for confronting difficult issues in the
Japanese parliament The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
. He secured a significant, first-ever admission from Aso Mining regarding their use of war prisoners. Additionally, he focused government attention on establishing clear guidelines regarding Japan's use of its Self-Defense Force to combat piracy. He also raised important questions related to how the Japanese government was helping the families of the Japanese victims of the
attacks of September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...
.


Views on POW and war-related issues

Much of Fujita's political career has been heavily invested in reconciliation issues. In Japan, he's known for his decades of tireless pursuit on the matter of Japan's wartime treatment of prisoners of war and for advocating the nation's need to make past wrongs right. November 2008 led to Fujita questioning Prime Minister
Taro Aso Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...
at the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense on whether Aso Mining (owned by the Aso family) had abused Allied prisoners of war (POWs) during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Prime Minister Aso responded: "I was four, maybe five years old at the time. I was too young to recognize anything at that age." On December 18 of that year, and in response to a request by Fujita, The Ministry of Health and Labor Welfare released the documents that confirmed that Aso Mining had used 101 British, 197 Australian and 2 Dutch prisoners of war to dig coal in its mine. In response to things coming to light
Fujita is quoted as saying
''"I suppose that as he has held several positions in government, including serving as foreign minister, he hoped there would be little chance of this being exposed.... It is, of course, related to war repatriations for individuals who suffered during the war, which the government does not want to pay and claims the issues have been settled...."'' In January 2009

Significant, in light of the fact that Prime Minister ttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2007/05/29/issues/aso-minings-pow-labor-the-evidence/#.WaV3Aa2ZMck Aso refused to acknowledge that truthfor 64 years. In February 2009, Fujita organized "The Debrief Meeting on Aso Mining's Use of Prisoners of War (POW) Labor" at the Diet Members' Building. At the meeting, Fujita noted Prime Minister Aso's comment before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense but added, ''"The survivors and OW'sfamilies want an apology and compensation from Prime Minister Aso."''


Use of the Japanese Self-Defense Force to combat piracy

In response t
increasing levels of aggression on Japanese maritime interests traveling off the coast of Somalia and utilizing the Suez Canal
between 2007 and 2008, the government was compelled to re-examine national security issues in relationship to international piracy. At the DPJ's Committee for Foreign Affairs and Defense in February 2009, on the topic o
sending the Self-Defense Force to the coast of Somalia as an anti-piracy measure
Fujita focused government attention on establishing clear guidelines on Japan's use of the Self-Defense Forces to combat piracy. Fujita called for the government to formulate a clear definition of "pirate" that went beyond th
acts of piracy outlined under Japan's 1907 Penal Code, Act No. 45
He also pushed fo
obtaining detailed information about piracy elsewhere
in the world.


References

* "Yukihisa Fujita". Democratic Party of Japan. http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/member/?detail_302=1. Retrieved 2 December 2009.


Books


Other publications

1. United Nations and Global Civil Society — A New Horizon (Co-Authored, 2006) 2. A Politician Who Did Not Want to Become Politician – Roles of NGO in Politics (2003) 3. World Peace from the Perspective of Religion (1991) 4. Japan's Decisive Decade (Translation, 1990) 5. Flame in the darkness on USSR Dissents (Translation, 1981)


Articles

1. Aso Mining's Indelible Past : Prime Minister Aso should seek reconciliation with former POWs (Japan Focus, Msy2009) 2. Russia Moving Towards Autocracy and Hegemonism (Oct 2006) 3. Prime Minister Kishi's Diplomacy of Reconciliation (Japan echo, Aug 2006) 4. Lessons to be Learned in the Emergency Relief Operations (Oct 2006) 5. Indian Ocean tsunami and Pakistan earthquake (Aug 2006) 6. The Role of NGO Diplomacy in the Conflict Resolution (June 2002) 7. Replacing the Cycle of Retaliation by Reconciliation (Sep 2001) 8. Political Solutions for the Pacific War Compensation Lawsuit by the US Prisoners of War (Sep 2001)


External links


Official website
(in Japanese) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fujita, Yukihisa 1950 births Living people People from Mito, Ibaraki Keio University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Democratic Party of Japan politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Japanese conspiracy theorists Politicians from Ibaraki Prefecture