豊橋市
is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Toyohashi, Aichi and graduate of Hitotsubashi University and the George Washington University School of Public Policy and Public Administration, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in 1996. In 1998 he ran for the House of Councillors and was elected for the first time.