Tamisuke Watanuki

Tamisuke Watanuki
綿貫 民輔
Watanuki in 2009
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
4 July 2000 – 10 October 2003
MonarchAkihito
DeputyKōzō Watanabe
Preceded bySōichirō Itō
Succeeded byYōhei Kōno
Minister of Construction
In office
28 February 1990 – 29 December 1990
Prime MinisterToshiki Kaifu
Preceded byShōzō Harada
Succeeded byYūji Ōtsuka
Director-General of the National Land Agency
In office
22 July 1986 – 6 November 1987
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded byHeihachirō Yamazaki
Succeeded bySeisuke Okuno
Director-General of the Hokkaido Development Agency and the Okinawa Development Agency
In office
22 July 1986 – 6 November 1987
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded byRaishirō Koga
Succeeded byShigeru Kasuya
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
29 December 1969 – 21 July 2009
Preceded byMatsutarō Shōriki
Succeeded byKeiichiro Tachibana
ConstituencyToyama 2nd (1969–1996)
Toyama 3rd (1996–2009)
Member of the Toyama Prefectural Assembly
In office
1959–1967
Personal details
Born(1927-04-30)30 April 1927
Inami, Toyama, Japan
Died18 August 2026(2026-08-18) (aged 99)
PartyLDP (1969–2005; 2016–2026)
Other political
affiliations
PNP (2005–2013)
Independent (2013–2016)
EducationKeio University

Tamisuke Watanuki (綿貫 民輔, Watanuki Tamisuke; 30 April 1927 – 18 August 2026) was a Japanese politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2000 to 2003.

Life and career

Tamisuke Watanuki was born in Inami, Toyama Prefecture on 30 April 1927. His father was a businessman and local politician who founded the Tonami Transportation Company. He married the daughter of Sakae Watanuki, the chief priest of the Inami Hachimangu Shrine, and was adopted as a son-in-law.

He graduated from the Department of Economics at Keio University. He took over as president of Tonami Transportation in 1955 and was elected to the Toyama Prefectural Assembly in 1959. He was elected to the Diet in 1969 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[1]

Watanuki served as Parliamentary Vice Minister of International Trade and Industry in 1975 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Miki, and as Parliamentary Vice Minister of Posts and Telecommunications under Prime Minister Fukuda, as well as some other cabinet positions through the 1980s. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from July 2000 to November 2003.[2]

He vigorously opposed Prime Minister Koizumi's plan to privatize the national post service and formed the People's New Party in 2005 to oppose the plan.[3] Although Koizumi's party handily won a strong majority in the elections on 11 September 2005, Watanuki crushed the challenger in his district.[4]

Watanuki died on 18 August 2026, at the age of 99.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Watanuki's official website Archived 2010-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ An article in the Japan Times.
  3. ↑ A report on the postal reform.
  4. ↑ A report on the 2005 Upper House Elections. (Note: This report is entitled as UPPER House Election, which is wrong. This is a LOWER House Election.)
  5. ↑ "綿貫民輔氏が死去 99歳、元衆院議長でトナミ運輸元社長｜政治｜富山のニュース｜富山新聞". 富山新聞 (in Japanese). 2026-08-24. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
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