| Riki Kawara | |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Office1: | Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency |
| Primeminister1: | Noboru Takeshita |
| Term Start1: | 6 November 1987 |
| Term End1: | 24 August 1988 |
| Predecessor1: | Kurihara Yoshiyuki |
| Successor1: | Kichirō Tazawa |
| Office2: | Member of the House of Representatives |
| Term Start2: | 10 December 1972 |
| Term End2: | 30 August 2009 |
| Office3: | Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency |
| Primeminister3: | Keizō Obuchi |
| Term Start3: | 5 October 1999 |
| Term End3: | 4 July 2000 |
| Predecessor3: | Hosei Norota |
| Successor3: | Kazuo Torashima |
| Birth Date: | 1 April 1937 |
| Birth Place: | Nanao, Ishikawa, Empire of Japan |
| Death Place: | Nanao, Ishikawa. Japan |
| Party: | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Alma Mater: | Chuo University |
was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Kawara was a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).[1] A native of Nanao, Ishikawa and graduate of Chuo University, he was elected for the first time in 1972. In 1987, he assumed the post of Director General of the Japan Defense Agency (and again in 1999 to 2000). He resigned a year later after taking responsibility for the Nadashio incident.[1] [2] Kichirō Tazawa replaced him in the post.[2]
He was later appointed construction minister in the Hashimoto cabinet.[1] He retired from politics in 2009. He died in Nanao, Ishikawa, in early January 2013 of pneumonia.[1] [3]