is a Japanese

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was a former leader of the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and the Democratic Party (DP). A native of

Nagoya, Aichi is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, he attended

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

and received a Ph.D. in fiscal and monetary policies and reforms. Afterwards, he worked at the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

from 1983 to 2000 before being elected to the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

for the first time in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Democratic Party leadership

After the 2017 general election, then-DP president

Seiji Maehara is a Japanese politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives of Japan since 1993. He founded and led the political party, Free Education for All, before its merger into Nippon Ishin no Kai on 3 October 2024. Maehara was the ...

faced intense criticism for his decision to disband the DP caucus in the

Lower House A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

and forcing DP members to seek re-election as members of

Kibō no Tō was a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan founded by Governor of Tokyo, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. The party was founded just before the call of the 2017 Japanese general election, 2017 gen ...

, the CDP or as independents. As a result, Maehara resigned as DP president on 30 October 2017. Otsuka was elected unopposed to succeed Maehara the following day. In May 2018, Otsuka led the DP to merge with Kibō no Tō, forming the DPFP. Otsuka became the co-leader of the new party, along with Kibō leader

Yuichiro Tamaki is a Japanese politician and the leader of the Democratic Party For the People (DPFP). He is a member of the House of Representatives, and a former leader of Kibō no Tō. Before joining Kibō, Tamaki was a member of the Democratic Party. E ...

. He chose not to run for a full 3-year term in the DPP leadership election in September 2018. He stated his intent to leave the party in 2024, citing his want to run for Mayor of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

. This comes after

and a group of others defected from the DPP due to party leader

ambivalent stance on if he wishes to join the LDP government or continue as an opposition member.

References

Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Waseda University alumni Living people 1959 births Politicians from Nagoya Democratic Party of Japan politicians {{Japan-politician-1950s-stub