is a former

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

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 ...

who served in 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) as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Early life

A native of

Yao, Osaka is a Cities of Japan, city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 263,436 in 126,509 households and a population density of 6300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is the birthplace o ...

, Tokita attended

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and summer school at

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He entered

Teikyo University is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi, Tokyo, Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo shogyo, Commercial High School (帝京商業高等学校). It became Teikyo University in 1966. It is part of Teik ...

in April 2005.

Family

His father Torao Tokuda was also a politician, as well as head of the Tokushukai hospital group.

Political career

Tokuda was elected for the first time in 2005.

Rape scandal and resignation

In February 2013, he resigned from his Diet post as parliamentary secretary in charge of infrastructure and transport as well as reconstruction, after tabloid ''Shūkan Shinchō'' ran a story alleging he had raped an intoxicated 19-year-old, and then when the victim filed a civil suit against him for damages came to an out-of-court settlement with her for ¥10 million. In public comments, Tokuda apologised for causing trouble but refused comment on the issue, stating that he had agreed not to discuss it. On February 24, 2014, he submitted his resignation from the Diet due to guilt-by-association rules of the Public Offices Election Law.

References

External links

Official website
Koizumi Children University of California, Los Angeles alumni Harvard University alumni Politicians from Kagoshima Prefecture People from Yao, Osaka Living people 1971 births Liberal League (Japan) politicians People from the Amami Islands 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 {{Japan-politician-1970s-stub