is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Rikuzentakata, Iwate and graduate of Waseda University, he worked at the city government of Rikuzentakata from 1977 to 1994. After having served in the Iwate Prefectural Assembly for two terms since 1995, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2000 as a member of Ichirō Ozawa's Liberal Party, which merged with the DPJ in 2003.