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 ...

of the

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan The is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan. It is the primary centre-left politics, centre-left party in Japan, and as of 2024 is the second largest party in the National Diet behind the ruling L ...

and a member of the

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 ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

(national legislature).

Political career

A native of

Saga, Saga file:Saga city office.JPG, 270px, Saga City Hall is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Saga Prefecture, located on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 227,138 in 104354 households, and a population density of ...

and graduate of the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, he was elected to the assembly of

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

(District #1) for the first time in 1987 as a member of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

, serving there for two times. In 1996 he was elected to the House of Representatives from Saga's 1st district for the first time as a member of the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto) after running unsuccessfully in 1993 as an independent. He switched to the DPJ in 1998. He was Minister of Internal Affairs from 2009 to 2010, in

Yukio Hatoyama is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and Leader of the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Repre ...

and

Naoto Kan is a Japanese former politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to ...

's Cabinets. Haraguchi studied Psychology at the

and attended the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. He often appears on television in which he discusses tax, pension, and decentralization issues. In the 2012 general election Haraguchi lost his single-seat electorate but retained a seat in the diet through the proportional representation system. He regained his seat in the 2014 election.

Positions

Haraguchi gave the following answers to the questionnaire submitted by Mainichi to parliamentarians in 2012: *in favor of the revision of the Constitution *in favor of right of collective self-defense (revision of

Article 9 Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article(s) may also refer to: ...

) *in favor of reform of the National assembly (unicameral instead of bicameral) *in favor of zero nuclear power by 2030s *in favor of the

relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Over the last five decades there have been various plans for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (海兵隊普天間航空基地, ''Kaiheitai Futenma Kōkū Kichi'' ), a United States Marine Corps base located within the urban ar ...

(Okinawa) *in favor of the reform of the Imperial Household that would allow women to retain their Imperial status even after marriage *against participation of Japan to the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), was a proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietn ...

*against a nuclear-armed Japan Haraguchi is a member of the association of parliamentarians promoting visits to

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...

Controversial remarks about Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Haraguchi mentioned support for Ukraine in a YouTube video and said, "Japan is behind the neo-Nazi regime." The Ukrainian Embassy in Japan protested Haraguchi's remarks on X. Haraguchi explained, "The intention was that Russia was telling us that we were behind the neo-Nazi regime," and the Constitutional Democratic Party to which Haraguchi belongs warned him verbally.

Vaccine remarks lawsuit

In December 2024, the pharmaceutical company

Meiji Seika Pharma , formerly is a Japanese pharmaceutical company. It is currently a subsidiary of Meiji Holdings and a Japanese leader in the area of infectious disease with 18% market share. It markets treatments for depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ...

filed a lawsuit against Haraguchi after he described the company's new coronavirus vaccine as being like a "biological weapon" in a post on X.

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese. , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Haraguchi, Kazuhiro 1959 births Living people Government ministers of Japan Ministers of internal affairs of Japan New Frontier Party (Japan) politicians Members of Nippon Kaigi Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Democratic Party of Japan politicians University of Tokyo alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 1996–2000 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2000–2003 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2003–2005 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2005–2009 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2009–2012 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2012–2014 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2014–2017