Kazuo Shii

{{short description|Japanese politician}} {{Western name order|Shii Kazuo}} {{Expand Japanese|topic=bio|志位和夫|date=December 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Kazuo Shii | native_name = {{nobold|志位和夫}} | native_name_lang = ja | image = Kazuo Shii 2024-10-26(1) (cropped).jpg | caption = Shii in October 2024 | office = Chairman of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party | term_start = 18 January 2024 | term_end = | predecessor = Tetsuzo Fuwa (2006) | successor = | office1 = Chairman of the Japanese Communist Party | term_start1 = 24 November 2000 | term_end1 = 18 January 2024 | predecessor1 = Tetsuzo Fuwa | successor1 = Tomoko Tamura | office2 = Secretary-General of the Japanese Communist Party | 1blankname2 = Chairman | 1namedata2 = Tetsuzo Fuwa | term_start2 = 13 July 1990 | term_end2 = 24 November 2000 | predecessor2 = Mitsuhiro Kaneko | successor2 = Tadayoshi Ichida | office3 = Member of the House of Representatives | term_start3 = 18 July 1993 | term_end3 = 23 January 2026 | predecessor3 = Ken'ichi Ueno | successor3 = Kimie Hatano | constituency3 = Chiba 1st (1993–1996) {{nowrap|Southern Kanto PR (1996–2026)}} | majority3 = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|7|29|df=y}} | birth_place = Yotsukaidō, Chiba, Japan | death_date = | _place = | party = Communist | relations = | alma_mater = University of Tokyo (BE) | occupation = Politician and staff of the political party | signature = | website = {{Official URL}} | footnotes = }}

{{Nihongo|'''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 the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) since 2024. He previously served as the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the JCP from 24 November 2000 to 18 January 2024.

Born in Yotsukaidō in Chiba Prefecture, Shii first joined the JCP while studying engineering physics at the University of Tokyo.<ref name="profile" /> 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 the House 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 by Tomoko Tamura. On the same day, Shii was appointed as the chairman of the Central Committee.

== Early life == {{BLP unreferenced section|date=October 2021}} Shii was born in Yotsukaidō in Chiba Prefecture, the son of two schoolteachers. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in physics and engineering from the University 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 lead Waseda University's youth student movement. He worked in the Central Committee of the JCP from 1982.<ref>{{cite web |title=日本共産党幹部会委員長衆議院議員志位和夫｜プロフィール |url=https://www.shii.gr.jp/profile/index.html |website=www.shii.gr.jp |access-date=13 July 2022}}</ref>

== Political career ==

=== Head of the Secretariat (1990–2000) === On 13 July 1990, Shii became the head of the party's secretariat. In 1993, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for the first time from the Chiba 1st district, which was then a multi-member electoral district with five slots, narrowly coming in last at 5th place with 1,020 votes over sixth-place LDP candidate Kazuo Eguchi.

=== Chairman of the JCP Executive Committee (2000–2024) === Shii became the party's leader on 24 November 2000.<ref>Gavin Blair, [https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0805/Communist-Party-makes-a-comeback-in-Japan Communist Party makes a comeback ... in Japan], ''Christian Science Monitor'' (August 5, 2013).</ref>

In 2006, Shii became the first JCP chairman to visit South Korea, where he traveled to an international conference of Asian political parties. He visited the site of Seodaemun 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 the National Assembly, the chairman of the Uri Party, and the floor leader of the Grand National Party.<ref>[http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/156264.html Editorial: Communist Party head's first visit to Korea], ''The Hankyoreh'' (September 12, 2006).</ref> 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 the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Imperial House for the time being.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 2024 |title=Tomoko Tamura Becomes 1st Female Chairperson of Japanese Communist Party |url=https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/politics-government/20240118-162766/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Yomiuri Shimbun}}</ref>

In early 2023, it was rumored that Shii was facing turmoil within his own party due to his failure to gain traction for the party and his prolonged 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Fujita |first=Yuki |date=30 January 2023 |title=Japan Communist Party in turmoil as calls emerge for new leadership |work=Nikkei Asia |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Inside-Japanese-politics/Japan-Communist-Party-in-turmoil-as-calls-emerge-for-new-leadership |access-date=12 March 2023}}</ref> On 21 January, party newspaper ''Shimbun Akahata'' published a 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 were a violation of the party constitution.<ref name=":1" />

=== Chairman of the Central Committee (2024–present) === At the JCP convention on 18 January 2024, Shii resigned as the party chairman,<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 2024 |title=共産・志位和夫氏は議長に就任小池晃書記局長は続投|work=Mainichi Shimbun|url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20240118/k00/00m/010/093000c|access-date= 18 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 2024 |title=野党共闘路線を主導共産・志位体制、２３年の歴史に幕|work=Sankei Shimbun|url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20240118-QIZI3IWZENOCFJYC3EZ2EDBOXY/|access-date= 18 January 2024}}</ref> with Tomoko Tamura succeeding him.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 2024 |title= 共産党の新委員長に田村智子氏、23年ぶり交代志位氏は議長に就任|work=The Asahi Shimbun|url=https://www.asahi.com/sp/articles/ASS1L4RS0S1LUTFK00H.html|access-date= 18 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 2024 |title= 共産党委員長に田村智子氏 23年ぶり交代、志位氏は議長|work=The Nikkei|url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA1694K0W4A110C2000000/|access-date= 18 January 2024}}</ref> At the same convention, Shii was appointed as the chairman of the Central Committee, a post that had been vacant since 2006.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 2024 |title=Japanese Communist Party taps 1st female leader |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/01/17b37074f3a5-japanese-communist-party-taps-1st-female-leader.html |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Kyodo News}}</ref>

== Political positions ==

=== Foreign relations === In 2020, under Shii's leadership, the Japanese Communist Party denounced the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government for its activities in the East China Sea, in the South China Sea, and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.<ref name="SCMP">{{Cite web |date=2020-01-20 |title=China's Communist Party a threat to peace, says Japanese counterpart |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046856/chinese-communist-partys-chauvinism-threat-peace-japanese |access-date=2020-02-19 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref> 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."<ref name="SCMP" /> At the party's conference in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shii said that "the Chinese leadership’s mistake is extremely serious. That action does not deserve the name of the Communist Party."<ref name="SCMP" /> The Japanese and Chinese communist parties had previously been diverging for decades.<ref name="SCMP" /><ref>Yuri Momoi, [https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Inside-Japanese-politics/Japanese-Communist-Party-s-long-goodbye-to-its-China-comrades Japanese Communist Party's long goodbye to its China comrades], ''Nikkei Asian Review'' (February 19, 2020).</ref>

Shii has been sanctioned by Russia over his support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian war.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-04 |title=ロシア、日本人63人を入国禁止に岸田首相や教授、メディア幹部ら |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ5464G4Q54UHBI02Q.html |access-date=2022-09-17 |newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun |language=ja}}</ref>

== Personal life == Shii plays the piano; 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 in music or physics, and chose physics in the end.<ref name="profile">[http://shii.gr.jp/profile/index.html 公式プロフィール]</ref> Shii says his favorite composers are Franz Schubert and Dmitri Shostakovich.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/magazine/99/1105/leader.japan.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130230411/http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/magazine/99/1105/leader.japan.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 January 2011|title = ASIANOW - Asiaweek | Politics & Power: Japan}}</ref> Despite being on starkly opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, Shii took part in a dialogue with former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2020, where they discussed their mutual love for classical music.<ref>{{Cite web|title=特別対談｜小泉純一郎×志位和夫——音楽愛とその原点、芸術文化の未来に私たちができることとは|url=https://ontomo-mag.com/article/interview/beyond-political-position/|access-date=2021-05-17|website=音楽っていいなぁ、を毎日に。｜ Webマガジン「ONTOMO」}}</ref>

== Works == {{incomplete list|date=August 2021}} * {{cite book |last1=Shii |first1=Kazuo |title=What is Scientific Socialism? |date=1992 |publisher=Shinnihon Shuppansha |location=Tokyo |isbn=4-406-02064-0}} * {{cite book |last1=Shii |first1=Kazuo |title=What kind of party is the Japanese Communist Party? |date=2007 |publisher=Shinnihon Shuppansha |location=Tokyo |isbn=978-4406050180}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links ==  * {{Official website|http://www.shii.gr.jp}} {{in lang|ja}} * [http://metropolis.co.jp/features/feature/red-star-rising/ Interview with C. B. Liddell in ''Metropolis'' magazine.] Published 15 January 2009. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsiyQjPN1JU Kazuo Shii: Comments from the Japanese Communist Party on the upcoming election.] YouTube video (in English) of Kazuo Shii discussing the 2014 Japanese general election. Uploaded 8 December 2014.

{{s-start}} {{s-par|jp-lwr}} {{s-new|reason=Introduction of proportional representation}} {{s-ttl|title=Representative for the Southern Kantō PR block | years=1996–}} {{s-inc}} {{s-bef|before=Ken'ichi Ueno Hideo Usui Kazuo Eguchi Kazuo Torii Masayuki Okajima}} {{s-ttl|title=Representative for Chiba 1st district | years=1993–1996|alongside=Yoshihiko Noda, Masayuki Okajima, Kazuo Torii, Hideo Usui}} {{s-non|reason=District eliminated}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-break}} {{s-vac}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Central Committee, Japan Communist Party|years=2024–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-bef|before=Tetsuzō Fuwa}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Executive Committee, Japan Communist Party|years=2000–2024}} {{s-aft|after=Tomoko Tamura}} {{s-bef|before=Mitsuhiro Kaneko}} {{s-ttl|title=Secretary General of the Central Committee, Japan Communist Party| years=1990–2000}} {{s-aft|after=Tadayoshi Ichida}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shii, Kazuo}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:People from Yotsukaidō Category:Japanese Communist Party politicians Category:Politicians from Chiba Prefecture Category:University of Tokyo alumni Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2003–2005 Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2005–2009 Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2009–2012 Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2012–2014 Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2014–2017 Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2021–2024 Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2024–2026