Tamisuke Watanuki

Tamisuke Watanuki is a retired Japanese politician who served as Speaker of [the House of Representatives (Japan)|Speaker of the House of Representatives] from 2000 to 2003.

Biography

Tamisuke Watanuki was born in 30 April 1927 in Inami, Toyama Prefecture. His father was a businessman and local politician who founded the Tonami Transportation Company. He was married the daughter of Sakae Watanuki, the chief priest of the Inami Hachimangu Shrine, and was adopted as a son-in-law.
Watanuki graduated from the Department of Economics at Keio University. He took over as president of Tonami Transportation in 1955 and was elected to the Toyama Prefectural Assembly in 1959. He was elected to the Diet in 1969 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
He served as Parliamentary Vice Minister of International Trade and Industry in 1975 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Miki, and as Parliamentary Vice Minister of Posts and Telecommunications under Prime Minister Fukuda, as well as some other cabinet positions through the 1980s. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from July 2000 to November 2003.
He vigorously opposed Prime Minister Koizumi's plan to privatize the national post service and formed the People's New Party in 2005 to oppose the plan. Although Koizumi's party handily won a strong majority in the elections on 11 September 2005, Watanuki crushed the challenger in his district.