Japan New Party
is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Tokyo and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993 as a member of Morihiro Hosokawa's Japan New Party. After losing his seat in 1996 as a member of the New Frontier Party, he was elected again in 2000 as a member of DPJ. In 2007, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time.