| Riki Kawara | |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Office: | Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency |
| Primeminister: | Keizō Obuchi |
| Term Start: | 5 October 1999 |
| Term End: | 4 July 2000 |
| Predecessor: | Hosei Norota |
| Successor: | Kazuo Torashima |
| Primeminister1: | Noboru Takeshita |
| Term Start1: | 6 November 1987 |
| Term End1: | 24 August 1988 |
| Predecessor1: | Kurihara Yoshiyuki |
| Successor1: | Kichirō Tazawa |
| Office2: | Minister of Construction |
| Primeminister2: | Ryutaro Hashimoto |
| Term Start2: | 11 September 1997 |
| Term End2: | 30 July 1998 |
| Predecessor2: | Shizuka Kamei |
| Successor2: | Katsutsugu Sekiya |
| Office3: | Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political affairs) |
| Primeminister3: | Zenkō Suzuki |
| Term Start3: | 17 July 1980 |
| Term End3: | 30 November 1981 |
| Predecessor3: | Koichi Kato |
| Successor3: | Yukihiko Ikeda |
| Office4: | Member of the House of Representatives |
| Constituency4: | Ishikawa 2nd (1972–1996) Ishikawa 3rd (1996–2005) Hokuriku-Shin'etsu PR (2005–2009) |
| Term Start4: | 10 December 1972 |
| Term End4: | 21 July 2009 |
| Birth Date: | 1 April 1937 |
| Birth Place: | Nanao, Ishikawa, Japan |
| Death Place: | Nanao, Ishikawa, Japan |
| Party: | Liberal Democratic |
| 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]