(February 25, 1922 – July 2, 2015) was the chairman of the former

Japan Socialist Party The was a major socialist and progressive political party in Japan which existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was the primary representative of the Japanese left and main opponent of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party for most of its ex ...

, now known as the

Social Democratic Party of Japan The is a political party in Japan that was established in 1996. Since its reformation and name change in 1996, it has advocated pacifism and defined itself as a social-democratic party. It was previously known as the . The party was re-founded ...

. He was elected to the position in 1991. Tanabe was from the right wing of the party and was a reformer. He served in the Japanese

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 ...

11 times. Tanabe was a supporter of giving Japanese aide to deal with the lack of food in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. He was also supportive of apologizing for Japan's behaviour during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and of giving reparations to those in Asian countries. He died in 2015.

References

2015 deaths Social Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 1922 births Japan Socialist Party politicians {{Japan-politician-1920s-stub