Tadatomo Yoshida

Tadatomo Yoshida (吉田忠智, Yoshida Tadatomo; born 7 March 1956 in Usuki, Ōita Prefecture)^[1] is a Japanese politician currently serving as a member of the House of Councillors for Ōita at-large district; he previously represented the National PR block, having been elected on two separate occasions in 2010 and in 2019. He previously served as a member of the Ōita Prefectural Assembly from 2000 to 2010.

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Quick Facts Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Preceded by ...

Tadatomo Yoshida
吉田忠智
Yoshida in 2023

Chairman of the Social Democratic Party
In office 14 October 2013 – 25 February 2018
Preceded by	Seiji Mataichi (acting)
Succeeded by	Seiji Mataichi
Member of the House of Councillors
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 July 2025
Preceded by	Aki Shirasaka
Constituency	Ōita at-large
In office 29 July 2019 – 30 March 2023
Preceded by	Seiji Mataichi
Succeeded by	Yūko Ōtsubaki
Constituency	National PR
In office 26 July 2010 – 25 July 2016
Constituency	National PR
Member of the Ōita Prefectural Assembly
In office August 2000 – April 2010
Constituency	Ōita City

Personal details
Born	(1956-03-07) 7 March 1956 (age 69) Usuki, Ōita, Japan
Political party	CDP (since 2020)
Other political affiliations	SDP (2000–2020)
Alma mater	Kyushu University
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Early life and career

Born in Usuki, Oita Prefecture, Yoshida was enrolled at Oita Prefectural Tsurusaki Technical High School with the goal of becoming an athlete. However, due to a knee injury, he abandoned this goal and changed course to continue his studies.^{[citation needed]} After a year of studying for university entrance exams, he entered the Faculty of Agriculture at Kyushu University, from which he graduated in 1979. He then began working for the Oita Prefectural Government as an agricultural civil engineering technician. He was actively involved in labour union work, and served as secretary general and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Oita Prefectural Government Employees' Union.^[2]

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Political career

Summarize

Perspective

In 2013, Yoshida was a candidate for the presidency of the Social Democratic Party. He defeated Tokyo City Toshima Ward Councillor Taiga Ishikawa, the first openly gay SDP elected politician, by a vote of 9,986 to 2,239 on 14 October 2013, and was inaugurated as the party president on 26 October 2013.^[3]

After a disappointing result in the 2016 upper house election, he announced his resignation as head of the party.^[4] He eventually retracted his resignation after the party urged him not to resign.^[5] Yoshida concluded his term as president on 25 February 2018.^[6] Yoshida is planning to run again for elected office in the future.^[7]

On 24 December 2020, Yoshida submitted a notice of withdrawal from the Social Democratic Party and a notice of admission to the Constitutional Democratic Party, both of which were accepted on the same day.^[8]

In March 2023, he resigned from his proportional seat in the House of Councillors to run as a candidate in the upcoming Ōita at-large district by-election for its 2019 class majoritarian seat, after incumbent Kiyoshi Adachi resigned in order to run for governor. He was nominated by the CDP with support from the JCP and SDP, but would go on to narrowly lose to the by-election by a margin of 341 votes to LDP candidate Aki Shirasaka.^[9]^[10]

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Early life and career

Political career

References

External links

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