Yukihisa Fujita

Yukihisa Fujita (藤田 幸久) is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors, the upper house of Japan's parliament, from the Ibaraki constituency.

He is now the DPJ Next Vice Minister of Defense, the DPJ Next Vice Minister for the Abduction Issue, and the Director of Special Committee on North Korea Abduction Issue and Related Matter.

He also is a member of Committee on Foreign Affairs and defense.

He is a Former Senior Vice Minister of Finance.

In the House of Councillors he is a former Chair of the Committee on Financial Affairs.[1] He also is a former Director-General of the DPJ's International Department and a former Chair of the House of Councillors' Special Committee on North Korean Abductions and Other Issues.

Fujita is a native of Hitachi, Ibaraki and graduate of Keio University, Faculty of Letters.

Fujita was born April 19, 1950, in Hitachi, Ibaraki.

He graduated from Ibaraki University Junior High School in 1966, and Mito Dai-ichi High School in 1969.

He attended the Department of Philosophy, the Faculty of Letters of Keio University and graduated with a B.A. in 1975.

From 1975 to 1977, Fujita participated in the Moral Re-Armament (MRA, now Initiatives of Change) Goodwill Ambassador "Song of Asia" program, and visited 14 countries with 50 youths from 15 countries in Asia and Oceania staying at about 100 homes in those countries he visited.

He has visited 48 countries and has participated in volunteer work in many of those countries.

He has had homestays in over 200 homes.

Fujita is a founding member of The Association for Aid and Relief Association for Aid and Relief, an NGO founded in 1979, and later became a member of the board of directors.

In 1984, he became a member of the board of directors of the International MRA Association of Japan (Now International IC Association of Japan).

In 1996, Fujita, as a member of the original Democratic Party Of Japan, was first elected to the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan's parliament.

He represented the Tokyo proportional representation constituency and was elected with the support of Yukio Hatoyama who later became Prime Minister of Japan.

Fujita became known as the country's first national politician with an international NGO background.

After losing the 2000 re-election against Eita Yashiro, Fujita served as a policy advisor for Hatoyama, and was elected to the House of Representatives for the second time in 2003.

He also raised important questions related to how the Japanese government was helping the families of the Japanese victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Much of Fujita's political career has been heavily invested in reconciliation issues.

Fujita lost in the 2005 election against Akihiro Ota.

In 2007, when the incumbent Moto Kobayashi retired, Fujita ran for election in the House of Councillors.

He won Kobayashi's seat, representing Ibaraki, a constituency which tends to be a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) stronghold.

Fujita received 540,174 votes, which is a record for a DPJ member in Ibaraki.

In 2009, he became the director-general of the International Department, the director of the Committee on Financial Affairs, and the member of the Committee on Audit.

In 2010, he was sent by the Democratic Party to facilitate aid efforts following the earthquake in Haiti.

In the same year, he was appointed as the chairman of the Committee on Financial Affairs in the House of Councillors.

In 2011, he was appointed senior vice minister of finance.

In 2012, he became a director, Committee on Fundamental National Policies and member, Judge Impeachment Court.

In 2013, he became the chairman of the Committee on Financial Affairs, and later served as chairman, Committee on Fundamental National Policies.

His current positions are shadow Vice Minister of Defense, shadow Vice Minister for the Abduction Issue, director, The Special Committee on The North Korea Abduction Issue and Related Matters, and member, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense.

President, Diet Members' League to promote voting by overseas Japanese

President, Diet Members' League for international peace building

President, Diet Members' League to promote International Initiatives of Change (IC)

Vice President, Diet Members' League to support ex-Japanese POWs in Siberia

Member, Diet Members' League to vitalize shopping streets

Member, Diet Members' League to promote policies to get out of deflation

Fujita, is known for confronting difficult issues in the Japanese parliament.

He secured a significant, first-ever admission from Aso Mining regarding their use of war prisoners.

Additionally, he focused government attention on establishing clear guidelines regarding Japan's use of its Self-Defense Force to combat piracy.