| Shinji Tarutoko | |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Office: | Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications |
| Primeminister: | Yoshihiko Noda |
| Term Start: | 1 October 2012 |
| Term End: | 26 December 2012 |
| Predecessor: | Tatsuo Kawabata |
| Successor: | Yoshitaka Shindō |
| Office2: | Member of the House of Representatives |
| Term Start2: | 22 October 2017 |
| Term End2: | 28 January 2019 |
| Successor2: | Sumio Mabuchi |
| Constituency2: | Kinki PR |
| Term Start3: | 31 August 2009 |
| Term End3: | 16 November 2012 |
| Predecessor3: | Tomokatsu Kitagawa |
| Successor3: | Tomokatsu Kitagawa |
| Constituency3: | Osaka-12th |
| Term Start4: | 19 July 1993 |
| Term End4: | 8 August 2005 |
| Successor4: | Tomokatsu Kitagawa |
| Birth Date: | 1959 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Mitoya, Shimane, Japan |
| Party: | Independent |
| Otherparty: | |
| Alma Mater: | Osaka University |
| Website: | Official website |
is a Japanese politician and former member of the House of Representatives.
Tarutoko was born in Shimane Prefecture on 6 August 1959. He studied at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management.
Tarutoko was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 1993 election as a member of the defunct Japan New Party. Then he joined the Democratic Party of Japan in 1998.
In June 2010, he declared his intention to run against Naoto Kan for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Japan; had he won, he would have become the next Prime Minister of Japan.[1] However, he was defeated on a 291–129 vote.[2] He was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on 1 October 2012.[3]
He lost his seat in the 16 December 2012 general election to Tomokatsu Kitagawa, who he had defeated in the 2009 election.[4] Tarutoko challenged Kitagawa again in 2014, but failed. He became the top candidate on Kibō no Tō's Kinki proportional representation list in 2017 and was elected back to the House.[5]
Tarutoko resigned his seat on 28 January 2019 to contest the Osaka 12th district by-election, which was called after Kitagawa's death.[6]
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-