Kotaro Tatsumi

Kotaro Tatsumi
辰巳 孝太郎
Tatsumi in 2014
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 November 2024
Preceded byMulti-member district
ConstituencyKinki PR
Member of the House of Councillors
In office
29 July 2013 – 28 July 2019
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byMizuho Umemura
ConstituencyOsaka at-large
Personal details
Born (1976-08-21) 21 August 1976
Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan
PartyJCP (since 2002)
Alma materEmerson College

Kotaro Tatsumi (Japanese: 辰巳 孝太郎, Hepburn: Tatsumi Kōtarō; born 21 August 1976) is a Japanese politician who serves in the House of Representatives for Kinki PR as a member of the Japanese Communist Party. Tatsumi was in the House of Councillors for Osaka from 2013 to 2019. He was a candidate in the 2023 Osaka gubernatorial election.

Biography

Tatsumi was born on 21 August 1976,[1] in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka. He is the youngest of four brothers. He entered the Kitano Prefectural High School, where he was a member of a rugby club and became a student council president. During his tenure as the president, he volunteered to support leprosy patients in Bangladesh.[2] He then travelled to the United States to explore his options before entering and graduating from that country's Emerson College with a degree in Film Studies.[3][2] After returning to Japan, he joined a video production company. In 2000, he participated in a project aiming to invite high school students who had suffered from the Kosovo War to Japan.[2] Following the September 11 attacks and feeling frustrated with the Japanese government's passive support of the United States war on Iraq and Afghanistan, he joined the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) in 2002 after being drawn to the anti-war slogans of the party.[2][3]

In 2003, Tatsumi ran for a seat in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly but lost. He also unsuccessfully ran for the same position in the 2007 and 2011 elections.[2] He decided to run for the 2013 Japanese House of Councillors election for Osaka at-large district. He won the election, the first time JCP won a seat in Osaka in 15 years.[4] He run for re-election in 2019 but was defeated by candidates from Ishin no Kai and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) receiving approximately 380,000 votes.[5] Following an unsuccessful run for the same seat in 2022,[6] he ran for the 2023 Osaka gubernatorial election as an independent. He was endorsed for this by JCP[7] but defeated by incumbent Hirofumi Yoshimura.[8]

Tatsumi was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for Kinki proportional representation block for the JCP in the 2024 Japanese general election.[1] He was again reelected to the same seat in 2026.[9] He is a member of the House of Representatives' Health, Labour and Welfare Committee, Budget Committee, and Special Committee on Reconstruction and Nuclear Power.[10]

Personal life

Tatsumi was married and had one daughter and two sons.[2]

Political views

Tatsumi during a campaign in 2022

Tatsumi said in 2019 that he was against the amendment of the Japanese Constitution.[11][12] He is also against the amendment of the Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, including the strengthening of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.[13] He is somewhat against the strengthening of United States-Japan relations, supported strengthening of Japan-South Korea relations, but remains neutral on strengthening of China-Japan relations.[14]

Tatsumi is against Fumio Kishida's New Form of Capitalism and supports an increase in taxes on wealthy individuals.[13] He is also against the reduction of pension and medical expense benefits.[12] He stated that the consumption taxes should be permanently reduced or abolished.[14] He was opposed to the MagLev system, saying that it is a waste of resources.[15]

Tatsumi supported the abolition of nuclear power in Japan. He also supported same-sex marriage and allowing female emperors, but is against the return of the former imperial family member who left the imperial family after the war.[12][13] He agrees on decreasing the acceptance of the number of foreigners residing in Japan.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 辰巳 孝太郎 [Kotaro Tatsumi]. Jiji Press (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 プロフィール [Profile]. Tatsumi Kotaro website (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 【参院選２０１３ 大阪】主な候補者の横顔（上から届け出順） [Profiles of the main candidates (in order of filing, from top to bottom)]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 7 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  4. ↑ 辰巳孝太郎氏当選「自民と対決できるのは共産」 大阪 [Kotaro Tatsumi wins election: "The Communist Party is the only one that can stand up to the Liberal Democratic Party" Osaka]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 21 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  5. ↑ 検証・参院選大阪選挙区 女性弁護士と共産エースはなぜ落ちた？ [An Analysis of the Osaka Constituency in the House of Councillors Election: Why Did the Female Lawyer and the Communist Party's Top Candidate Lose?]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 30 July 2019. p. 4. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  6. ↑ 辰巳孝太郎 参議院選挙・開票結果2022 大阪選挙区 [Kotaru Tatsumi House of Councillor Election Result]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 22 June 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  7. ↑ 大阪府知事選、元参院議員の辰巳孝太郎氏が出馬へ…共産党が推薦 [Former Upper House member Kotaro Tatsumi to run in Osaka Prefectural Governor election... endorsed by the Communist Party]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 7 January 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  8. ↑ 大阪ダブル選、４回目も維新が制す…「非維新」退ける [Osaka double election: Ishin party wins for the fourth time... defeating "non-Ishin" candidates.]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 9 April 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  9. ↑ 辰巳孝太郎(たつみこうたろう) [Kotaro Tatsumi]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  10. ↑ 国会議員名鑑：辰巳 孝太郎（たつみ こうたろう [Diet Member Directory: Tatsumi Kotaro]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 26 February 2026. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  11. ↑ 憲法を改正すべきだ [Q: The Constitution should be amended.]. The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 朝日・東大谷口研究室共同調査 - 2019参議院選挙 [Joint Survey by Asahi Shimbun and the University of Tokyo's Taniguchi Laboratory – 2019 House of Councillors Election:]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 辰巳孝太郎 [Kotaro Tatsumi]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 辰巳孝太郎 衆議院選挙(共産党 比例代表・近畿)開票結果2026 [Proportional Representation, Kinki Region, Communist Party, 2026 House of Representatives Election: Candidate Profiles]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 27 January 2026. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  15. ↑ Brasor, Philip (2 August 2014). "Is the next stop 'brokesville' for the maglev?". The Japan Times.

Further readings

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