is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a former member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. A native of Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture and graduate of Hosei University, he was elected to the city assembly of Iwakuni in 1999, to the Yamaguchi Prefectural assembly in 2003, and to the House of Representatives in 2005. In 2008 he was elected the mayor of Iwakuni.