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Kazuo Shii | |
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志位 和夫 | |
_(cropped).jpg) Shii in October 2024 | |
| Chairman of the Central Committee of theJapanese Communist Party | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Tetsuzo Fuwa (2006) |
| Chairman of the Japanese Communist Party | |
| In office 24 November 2000 – 18 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Tetsuzo Fuwa |
| Succeeded by | Tomoko Tamura |
| Secretary-General of theJapanese Communist Party | |
| In office 13 July 1990 – 24 November 2000 | |
| Chairman | Tetsuzo Fuwa |
| Preceded by | Mitsuhiro Kaneko |
| Succeeded by | Tadayoshi Ichida |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 18 July 1993 – 23 January 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Ken'ichi Ueno |
| Succeeded by | Kimie Hatano |
| Constituency | Chiba 1st (1993–1996) Southern Kanto PR (1996–2026) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1954-07-29)29 July 1954 (age 71) Yotsukaidō,Chiba, Japan |
| Party | Communist |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo (BE) |
| Occupation | Politician and staff of thepolitical party |
| Website | shii.gr.jp |
Kazuo Shii (志位 和夫,Shii Kazuo; born 29 July 1954) is a Japanese politician who has been the chairman of the Central Committee of theJapanese Communist Party (JCP) since 2024. He previously served as thechairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the JCP from 24 November 2000 to 18 January 2024.
Born inYotsukaidō inChiba Prefecture, Shii first joined the JCP while studyingengineering physics at theUniversity of Tokyo.[1] He participated in the JCP's Tokyo Committee after graduation, and worked in the Party Central Committee from 1982. He became the head of the secretariat in 1990, and was elected as a member of theHouse of Representatives in 1993. He became the chairman of the Party Executive Committee in 2000. He led the party until 18 January 2024, when he resigned as the executive committee chairman, and was succeeded byTomoko Tamura. On the same day, Shii was appointed as the chairman of the Central Committee.
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Shii was born inYotsukaidō inChiba Prefecture, the son of two schoolteachers. He graduated with theBachelor of Engineering degree inPhysics andEngineering from theUniversity of Tokyo. He joined the JCP during his first year at the university and became an active participant in the party's student wing. After graduation, he got a job in the JCP-Tokyo Committee to leadWaseda University's youthstudent movement. He worked in the Central Committee of the JCP from 1982.[2]
On 13 July 1990, Shii became the head of the party's secretariat. In 1993, he was elected as a member of theHouse of Representatives for the first time forChiba 1st district, then a multi-member electoral district with five slots, narrowly coming in last at 5th place with just 1,020 votes over sixth-place LDP candidate Kazuo Eguchi.
Shii became the party's leader on 24 November 2000.[3]
In 2006, Shii became the first JCP chairman to visitSouth Korea, where he traveled to an international conference of Asian political parties. He visited the site ofSeodaemun Prison and paid tribute to the memory of Korean anti-colonial activists who were imprisoned during the period of Japanese colonialism. Shii also met the speaker of theNational Assembly, the chairman of theUri Party, and the floor leader of theGrand National Party.[4] He also became the first JCP leader to visit the United States, doing so in April 2010.
In 2016, Shii proposed a "national coalition government", promoting the joint fielding of candidates with other opposition parties. That year, he amended the JCP constitution to accept theJapan Self-Defense Forces and theImperial House for the time being.[5]
In early 2023, it was rumored that Shii was facing turmoil within his own party due to his failure to gain the party traction and his length of leadership. At a press conference on 19 January, former party foreign policy committee director Nobuyuki Matsutake called it "far from the common sense of the people" for Shii to hold onto his position for over 20 years and advocated for the reform of the party leadership election system so that the party leader would be elected directly by the party members.[6] On 21 January, party newspaperShimbun Akahata published commentary piece titled "Clear deviation from the constitution and platform", rebutting his words and actions; Shii called the commentary "correct" at a press conference on 23 January, saying calls to introduce a public election system was a violation of the party constitution.[6]
At the JCP convention on 18 January 2024, Shii's resigned as the Party chairman,[7][8] withTomoko Tamura succeeding him.[9][10] On the same convention, Shii was appointed as the chairman of the Central Committee, a post that has been vacant since 2006.[11]
In 2020, under Shii's leadership, the Japanese Communist Party denounced theChinese Communist Party and the Chinese government for itsactivities in the East China Sea,in the South China Sea, and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.[12] A position paper issued by the party said that China's "great-power chauvinism and hegemonism" were "an adverse current to world peace and progress."[12] At the party's conference inAtami,Shizuoka Prefecture, Shii said that "the Chinese leadership’s mistake is extremely serious. That action does not deserve the name of the Communist Party."[12] The Japanese and Chinese communist parties had previously been diverging for decades.[12][13]
He has beensanctioned by Russia over his support for Ukraine.[14]
Shii plays thepiano; he has said music is "a part of his life" and seriously considered becoming a musician. When he was about to begin university, he considered majoring inmusic orphysics, and chose physics in the end.[1] Shii says his favorite composers areFranz Schubert andDmitri Shostakovich.[15] Despite being on starkly opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, Shii took part in a dialogue with former prime ministerJunichiro Koizumi in 2020, where they discussed their mutual love forclassical music.[16]
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| House of Representatives (Japan) | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title Introduction of proportional representation | Representative for theSouthern Kantō PR block 1996– | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Representative forChiba 1st district 1993–1996 Served alongside:Yoshihiko Noda, Masayuki Okajima, Kazuo Torii, Hideo Usui | District eliminated |
| Party political offices | ||
| Vacant | Chairman of the Central Committee, Japan Communist Party 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Executive Committee, Japan Communist Party 2000–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary General of the Central Committee, Japan Communist Party 1990–2000 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
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| Other | |
