Kazuyuki Hamada

Kazuyuki Hamada (浜田 和幸, Hamada Kazuyuki, born 17 March 1953) is a Japanese politician. He has served one term in the House of Councillors for the Tottori At-large district. After being elected in 2010 as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party, he changed parties three times before unsuccessfully seeking re-election as an independent candidate in 2016.

Kazuyuki Hamada
浜田 和幸
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
5 September 2011 – 26 December 2012
Serving with Joe Nakano, Toshiyuki Kato (until 30 Sept. 2012) Hirotami Murakoshi, Naoki Kazama (from 1 October 2012)
Prime MinisterYoshihiko Noda
Preceded byMakiko Kikuta, Ikuo Yamahana, Hisashi Tokunaga
Succeeded byToshiko Abe, Minoru Kiuchi, Kenta Wakabayashi
Vice Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
In office
27 June 2011 – 2 September 2011
Prime MinisterNaoto Kan
Preceded byAkira Uchiyama
Succeeded byAkio Fukuda
Member of the House of Councillors for the Tottori At-large district
In office
26 July 2010 – 25 July 2016
Serving with Yoshihiro Kawakami (until 28 July 2013), Shoji Maitachi (from 29 July 2013)
Preceded byKotaro Tamura
Succeeded bySeat redistricted
Personal details
Born (1953-03-17) 17 March 1953
Yonago, Tottori, Japan
Political partyIndependent (June 2016-present)
Other political
affiliations		Initiatives from Osaka (Apr.-June 2016)
Future Generations / Japanese Kokoro (Nov. 2014–Apr. 2016)
People's New (Dec. 2011–Mar. 2013)
Liberal Democratic (2010–June 2011)
Alma materTokyo University of Foreign Studies,
George Washington University
Websitewww.hamadakazuyuki.com

Early life and pre-political career

Hamada was born in Yonago, Tottori on 17 March 1953. His father was employed at Japanese National Railways and his mother was from a farming family. He graduated from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies with a degree in Chinese language in 1975 and joined Nippon Steel the same year.[1] After leaving Nippon Steel Hamada joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., becoming a Fellow and Associate Director in 1987. He obtained a Ph.D. in political science[2] from George Washington University in 1992.[1] In 1995 he became a consultant at the United States' Congressional Research Service.

Political career

Hamada contested the Tottori at-large district of the national House of Councillors at the July 2010 election as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party. He won the seat with 50.2% percent of the vote and defeated the Democratic Party of Japan candidate Mari Sakano, the granddaughter of Shigenobu Sakano, a former LDP member who had held the seat from 1986 until his death in April 2002.

On 27 June 2011, whilst still a member of the opposition LDP, Hamada was offered a position in the government of Naoto Kan as Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. The position would see Hamada be responsible for recovery efforts arising from the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. He resigned from the LDP and joined the ministry the following day. The LDP responded to the move a week later by rejecting his resignation and instead expelling him from the party. He sat as an independent for several months before joining the People's New Party on 29 December 2011.

In September 2011 Kan was replaced as prime minister by Yoshihiko Noda. Hamada became a Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in Noda's cabinet and remained in the position until the DPJ were defeated by the LDP in the December 2012 general election. The People's New Party also performed poorly in the election, and in the aftermath Hamada became Secretary-General of the party. By March 2013 he and party leader Shozaburo Jimi were the only party members remaining in the Diet and they decided to disband the party. Whilst again sitting as an independent, he caused some controversy in April 2014 during United States President Barack Obama's state visit to Japan by claiming that Michelle Obama's absence from the visit was evidence that the couple were "negotiating a divorce".[3] Hamada joined the Party for Future Generations in November 2014, which changed its name to the Party for Japanese Kokoro in December 2015. From the same time Hamada served as the party's Diet leader.[4]

2016 re-election campaign

In April 2016 Hamada resigned from the Party for Japanese Kokoro and joined Initiatives from Osaka.[5] Hamada's Tottori constituency was to be merged with the Shimane at-large district to create the Tottori-Shimane at-large district and contesting the new seat as a minor party candidate against Kazuhiko Aoki, the LDP's incumbent member for Shimane, would prove too difficult. Instead Hamada received a nomination to contest the summer 2016 election from the national proportional representation block as an Initiatives from Osaka candidate.[5] However, on Friday 27 May 2016 Hamada caused controversy when he was absent from the House of Councillors, which was debating bills related to relief following the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, in order to attend a party meeting in Osaka for Osaka prefectural representatives. He greeted the meeting by saying "I have come today to say a greeting to the all-star cast in attendance".[6] His attendance was intended to gain support within the party for his national block campaign, and Hamada later explained that he had the party's permission to be absent from the House debate. However, the party's leader in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, Kazunori Ohashi, said the party was unaware of his intended absence.[6] On the following Monday, party secretary-general Nobuyuki Baba announced that the party had removed Hamada as a candidate, saying that his absence from the House in order to progress his re-election campaign was "extremely regrettable".[7] Hamada submitted his resignation to the party on the same day, which was accepted the following day, 1 June 2016.[8]

Hamada nominated for the July House of Councillors election as an independent candidate in the six-seat Tokyo at-large district. He came 16th in a field of 31 candidates, receiving just 0.5% of the vote.[9] Meanwhile, Aoki won the merged Tottori-Shimane district with 62.7% of the vote in a three-candidate race.[10]

References
  1. "Mr. HAMADA Kazuyuki". House of Councillors, The National Diet of Japan. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. "浜田　和幸（はまだ　かずゆき）" [Hamada Kazuyuki] (in Japanese). House of Councillors, The National Diet of Japan. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. "No-show is no snub by family-oriented first lady". Japan Times. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  4. "日本のこころを大切にする党：ニュース：平成二十八年 定期党大会" [Party for Japanese Kokoro 2016 Annual Conference] (in Japanese). 12 March 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  5. "こころ・浜田和幸参院議員、おおさか維新入党へ" [Kokoro's Councillor Hamada to join Initiatives from Osaka]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 6 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  6. "「顔見世興行であいさつ」おおさか維新の浜田氏が参院本会議欠席、府議団総会に参加" ['Greeting the All-Star Cast' Initiatives from Osaka's Hamada absent from House of Councillors debate, attends prefectural general meeting]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 27 May 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  7. "浜田氏公認を取り消し＝おおさか維新" [Hamada's nomination withdrawn - Initiatives from Osaka]. Jiji Press (in Japanese). 31 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  8. "維新の浜田和幸参院議員 公認取り消しで離党" [Initiatives from Osaka's Hamada resigns over withdrawal of nomination] (in Japanese). 2 June 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  9. "開票結果・速報(選挙区・東京都)【参議院選挙2016】" [Results (Tokyo District) [House of Councillors Election 2016]]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  10. "開票結果・速報(選挙区・鳥取・島根)【参議院選挙2016】" [Results (Tottori-Shimane District) [House of Councillors Election 2016]]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 July 2016.
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