Junya Ogawa
Junya Ogawa | |
|---|---|
小川 淳也 | |
Official portrait, 2009 | |
| Secretary-General of Constitutional Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 23 September 2024 | |
| Leader | Yoshihiko Noda |
| Preceded by | Katsuya Okada |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 11 September 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Constituency | Shikoku PR (2005–2009; 2012–2021) Kagawa 1st (2009–2012; 2021–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 April 1971 Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan |
| Political party | CDP (since 2020) |
| Other political affiliations | DPJ (2005–2016) DP (2016–2017) Kibō (2017–2018) Independent (2018–2020) |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
Junya Ogawa (小川 淳也, Ogawa Jun'ya; born 1971) is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party, and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Takamatsu, Kagawa and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1994. Leaving the ministry in 2003, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in the same year. Two years later, he ran again and lost for a second time. He ran for a third time in 2009 and was elected for Kagawa 1st district.
After being elected, he became Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications in the Hatoyama Cabinet. He left the office once Naoto Kan became Prime Minister and served as a backbencher for the rest of the DPJ government. He lost his district but won a proportional seat amidst the DPJ faltering in 2012, and continued to hold his proportional seat under the post-2012 DPJ and its successor, the DP. In 2017, amidst the DP dissolving into Kibō no Tō, he ran under Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's new party, but began to clash with her stances and policy of expulsion for dovish DP members from the party. He was elected in the PR block again in 2017. He later declined to join the DPP and joined the CDP instead.
Amidst the release of Why You Can't Be Prime Minister, a documentary focused on Ogawa's political life, he gained popularity and name recognition across the country. After winning his district of Kagawa-1 for the first time since 2009 in the 2021 election, he ran in the leadership election to succeed Yukio Edano. After placing third and not making a run-off, he was appointed Chairman of the Policy Research Council by Kenta Izumi. He resigned from the position after the 2022 House of Councilors election. In the 2024 CDP leadership election, he declined to run himself, and backed Yoshihiko Noda. Noda appointed him Secretary-General of the party following his victory. He, alongside Ichirō Ozawa and Yoshihiko Noda, led the CDP to gain over 50 seats in the 2024 election, ending in the CDP having the greatest number of seats for an opposition party since 2003.