is a Japanese politician and 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). A native of

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

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 joined the

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a Ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industri ...

in 1979, attending the

Center for International Affairs The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA), formerly Center for International Affairs (CFIA) is a research center for international affairs and the largest international research center within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts a ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in the United States while in the ministry. Leaving the government in 1998, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in 2000 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 ...

. He ran again in 2002 as an independent, and was elected for the first time. He lost his seat in 2003, but was re-elected in 2005. He was a member of

Your Party is a Japanese parliamentary caucus consisting of Yoshimi Watanabe and Takashi Tachibana, later Satoshi Hamada after Tachibana forfeited his seat, in the House of Councillors. It was also a political party led by Watanabe from 2009 until its ...

from its foundation in 2009 to 2013. On August 7, 2013, he was demoted from the secretary-general by party leader

Yoshimi Watanabe is a former Japanese politician. He was formerly a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and later the founder of Your Party, after which he became a member of Nippon Ishin no Kai until 2019 when he then became an independent politician. He wa ...

due to disagreements in political policies. He left Your Party on December 9, 2013, along with thirteen other members, and announced the formation of a new party known as the Unity Party. He stated that his goal was to "change Japan by abolishing bureaucracy-led politics, fighting vested interests and breaking the centralization of power." Your Party challenged Eda's withdrawal by ordering the resignation of the defectors. In 2014 he joined the

Japan Innovation Party The is a conservative and centre-right to 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 ...

, which merged with other parties to create the Democratic Party in early 2016. He is currently a member 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 ...

(CDP). He expressed interest in possibly running in the 2024 CDP leadership election against incumbent party leader

Kenta Izumi is a Japanese politician who served as leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) from 2021 to 2024. He is also a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the National Diet, currently for the ...

. He eventually decided against running, agreeing instead to back candidate Harumi Yoshida.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eda, Kenji Politicians from Okayama Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Harvard University alumni 1956 births Living people Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Your Party politicians Unity Party (Japan) politicians Japan Innovation Party politicians Democratic Party (Japan, 2016) politicians Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan politicians 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 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2017–2021 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2021–2024 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2024–