Kōzō Watanabe (Democratic Party politician)

Kōzō Watanabe
渡部 恒三
Watanabe in 2010
Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
7 November 1996  10 October 2003
MonarchAkihito
SpeakerSoichiro Ito
Tamisuke Watanuki
Preceded byHyōsuke Kujiraoka
Succeeded byKansei Nakano
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office
5 November 1991  12 December 1992
Prime MinisterKiichi Miyazawa
Preceded byEiichi Nakao
Succeeded byYoshirō Mori
Minister of Home Affairs
In office
10 August 1989  28 February 1990
Prime MinisterToshiki Kaifu
Preceded byShigenobu Sakano
Succeeded byKeiwa Okuda
Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission
In office
10 August 1989  28 February 1990
Prime MinisterToshiki Kaifu
Preceded byShigenobu Sakano
Succeeded byKeiwa Okuda
Minister of Health and Welfare
In office
27 December 1983  1 November 1984
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded byYoshiro Hayashi
Succeeded byHiroyuki Masuoka
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
28 December 1969  16 November 2012
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byIchirō Kanke
ConstituencyFukushima 2nd (1969–1996)
Fukushima 4th (1996–2012)
Personal details
Born(1932-05-24)24 May 1932
Tajima, Fukushima, Japan
Died23 August 2020(2020-08-23) (aged 88)
Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima, Japan
Political partyDPP (2018–2020)
Other political
affiliations
LDP (before 1993)
JRP (1993–1994)
NFP (1994–1998)
Independent (1998–2005)
DPJ (2005–2016)
DP (2016–2018)
Alma materWaseda University

Kōzō Watanabe (渡部 恒三, Watanabe Kōzō, May 24, 1932 – August 23, 2020) was a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Tajima, Fukushima and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the first of his two terms in the assembly of Fukushima Prefecture in 1959 and then to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1969 as an independent. He later joined the Liberal Democratic Party and eventually the DPJ. According to The Economist, he "represented agriculture interests in the Diet".