Muneo Suzuki (鈴木宗男 ''Suzuki Muneo'', born 31 January 1948), commonly known simply as "Muneo" due to his common last name, is a Japanese

Russophilic Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th Century ...

politician from Ashoro,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, currently serving as 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, ...

since 2019, representing the National PR block.

Early career

He graduated from the Department of Political Science at

Takushoku University Takushoku University (拓殖大学; ''Takushoku Daigaku'', abbreviated as 拓大 ''Takudai'') is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1900 by Duke Taro Katsura (1848–1913).

in 1970, and before he graduated he began working for Ichirō Nakagawa, a Japanese member of the House of Representatives. Nakagawa committed suicide in a hotel in January 1983 for unknown reasons. Suzuki hoped to run for his seat, but Ichirō's son

Shōichi Nakagawa was a Japanese conservative politician in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who served as Minister of Finance from 24 September 2008 to 17 February 2009. He previously held the posts of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry o ...

, a Tokyo native, moved to Hokkaidō to run for his father's seat, and Suzuki successfully ran for a seat in a neighboring district. He was elected in December 1983 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was appointed Head of the Hokkaido Development Agency and the Okinawa Development Agency in 1997 and later as Vice Minister of the Cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Keizō Obuchi was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000. Obuchi was elected to the House of Representatives in Gunma Prefecture in 1963, becoming the youngest legislator in Japanese history, and was re-elected to his ...

Scandal and criminal convictions

In 1999, while Suzuki was the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary to the former Prime Minister Obuchi, he pressured the Foreign Ministry to fund the Japanese-

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Friendship House (nicknamed the "Muneo House"), which became a scandal in 2002 when it was revealed. He left the LDP in 2002 and was arrested later that year for suspicion of accepting bribes from two Hokkaidō companies. He did not run for reelection in the 2003 elections on the stated grounds that he was undergoing surgery to treat stomach cancer. His secretary Akira Miyano was convicted of bribery in 2003, and Muneo was convicted of taking the bribes, failure to declare political donations, and perjury and sentenced to two years in prison and fined ¥11 million in November 2004. He remained free and in office as he appealed the conviction. Muneo ran for the

in 2004. He was defeated, but ran successfully for the

House of Representatives of Japan The is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors is the upper house. The composition of the House is established by and of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives ha ...

in the 11 September 2005 elections after forming the

New Party Daichi The New Party Daichi (新党大地 ''Shintō Daichi'') is a Japanese political party. The party works based on jurisdiction and administrative divisions. The party's leader is Muneo Suzuki, a former Representative for the Liberal Democratic P ...

. He is the only elected member of the party. On 7 September 2010, the

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the Supreme court, highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Constitution of Japan, Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It ...

unanimously upheld Suzuki's conviction and sentence. In response, Suzuki stated that he would file a complaint against the ruling. If the complaint is rejected, Suzuki will be removed from office and the fine and prison sentence will take effect. He would also be banned from running for public office for five years after completion of the prison sentence. Suzuki was paroled on 6 December 2011 after serving one year of prison in

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

Later career

His ban from running from public office expired on 30 April 2017, allowing him to run again for election. He ran in the 2017 general election as the head of the NPD list for the Hokkaido PR block but was not elected. He ran again in the 2019 House of Councillors election on the National PR list for the

Nippon Ishin no Kai The is a conservative and right-wing populist political party in Japan. Formed as ''Initiatives from Osaka'' in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in the National D ...

. He won the most votes on the party's list, and was thus elected for the first time since being removed from office in 2010.

Political positions

* He is in favour of

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

, legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and introduction of surname system for married couples. * As an elected member of the Hokkaido Assembly, he has been advocating for the rights of the

Ainu people The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Y ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Muneo 1948 births Living people Japanese politicians convicted of corruption Japanese prisoners and detainees Japan–Russia relations Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) People convicted of bribery Perjurers Prisoners and detainees of Japan Takushoku University alumni 21st-century Japanese politicians Politicians from Hokkaido Russophilia