Keiichi Ishii

Keiichi Ishii (石井 啓一, Ishii Keiichi; born March 20, 1958) is a Japanese politician who served as the chief representative of Komeito in 2024. He previously served as secretary general of the party from 2020 to 2024, and as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2015 to 2019.

Keiichi Ishii
石井 啓一
Ishii in 2023
Chief Representative of Komeito
In office 28 September 2024 – 9 November 2024
Preceded by	Natsuo Yamaguchi
Succeeded by	Tetsuo Saito
Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
In office 7 October 2015 – 11 September 2019
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Preceded by	Akihiro Ota
Succeeded by	Kazuyoshi Akaba
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 19 July 1993 – 9 October 2024
Constituency	Tokyo 5th (1993–1996) Tokyo PR (1996–2000) Northern Kanto PR (2000–2024)
Personal details
Born	(1958-03-20) 20 March 1958 (age 67) Toshima, Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Komeito (1998–present)
Other political affiliations	Komeito (1992–1994) New Frontier (1994–1997)
Alma mater	University of Tokyo

Born in Tokyo and educated as an engineer at the University of Tokyo, he served as an official in the Ministry of Construction before entering politics. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in 1993 and served in the House until his defeat in 2024. He resigned as Komeito chief representative after his defeat, having held the position for just over a month.

Biography

Ishii was born in Toshima, Tokyo, on 20 March 1958. His father was a tailor. Ishii studied civil engineering at the University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Construction after graduating in 1981. At the ministry, he worked on public works projects, including roads and bridges. He left the ministry in 1992, when he was recruited into politics by the Komeito diet member Takeshi Osada. Ishii was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the 1993 election, as a Komeito candidate in the 5th Tokyo district.^[1][2]

Ishii became chairman of the Komeito Policy Research Council in 2010 and was instrumental in building consensus for the integrated social security and tax reform adopted under the Noda Cabinet. In October 2015, Ishii joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.^[1][3] He was replaced as minister in September 2019 and was subsequently appointed as Secretary General of the Komeito in September 2020.^[1]

In September 2024, Ishii became Chief Representative of Komeito, succeeding the long-serving Natsuo Yamaguchi.^[4] Ishii was a candidate from the Saitama 14th district in the election held the following month. The election was a setback for the ruling coalition, which lost its majority in the house, and Ishii was unexpectedly defeated despite being an incumbent party leader. Due to this, Ishii announced his intention to resign.^[5] He was succeeded by Tetsuo Saito on 9 November 2024.^[6]