is a Japanese politician who served as the chief representative of

Komeito , formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, i ...

in 2024. He previously served as secretary general of the party from 2020 to 2024, and as

Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council (Japan), National Security Coun ...

under Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

from 2015 to 2019. Born in Tokyo and educated as an engineer at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, he served as an official in the Ministry of Construction before entering politics. He was elected as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and served in the House until his defeat in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. He resigned as Komeito chief representative after his defeat, having held the position for just over a month.

Biography

Ishii was born in

Toshima is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and N ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, on 20 March 1958. His father was a tailor. Ishii studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

at the University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Construction after graduating in 1981. At the ministry, he worked on public works projects, including roads and bridges. He left the ministry in 1992, when he was recruited into politics by the Komeito diet member Takeshi Osada. Ishii was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the 1993 election, as a Komeito candidate in the 5th Tokyo district. Ishii became chairman of the Komeito Policy Research Council in 2010 and was instrumental in building consensus for the integrated social security and tax reform adopted under the Noda Cabinet. In October 2015, Ishii joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as

. He was replaced as minister in September 2019 and was subsequently appointed as Secretary General of the Komeito in September 2020. In September 2024, Ishii became Chief Representative of Komeito, succeeding the long-serving Natsuo Yamaguchi. Ishii was a candidate from the Saitama 14th district in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

held the following month. The election was a setback for the ruling coalition, which lost its majority in the house, and Ishii was unexpectedly defeated despite being an incumbent party leader. Due to this, Ishii announced his intention to resign. He was succeeded by

Tetsuo Saito is a Japanese politician who serves as chief representative of the Komeito since 2024. He served as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism from 2021 to 2024 and Minister of the Environment from 2008 to 2009. Born in Shimane Pref ...

on 9 November 2024.

References

External links