Kazuo Shii

Kazuo Shii (志位 和夫) is a Japanese politician who has been the chairman of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) since 2024. He previously served as the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the JCP from 24 November 2000 to 18 January 2024.

Born in Yotsukaidō in Chiba Prefecture, Shii first joined the JCP while studying in the University of Tokyo. He participated in the JCP's Tokyo Committee after graduation, and worked in the Party Central Committee from 1982. He became the head of the Secretariat in 1990, and was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in 1993. He became the chairman of the Party Executive Committee in 2000. He led the party until 18 January 2024, when he resigned as the Executive Committee chairman, and was succeeded by Tomoko Tamura. On the same day, Shii was appointed as the chairman of the Central Committee.

Early life
Shii was born in Yotsukaidō in Chiba Prefecture, the son of two schoolteachers. He graduated with the Bachelor of Engineering degree in Physics and Engineering from the University of Tokyo. He joined the JCP during his first year at the University and became an active participant in the party's student wing. After graduation, he got a job in the JCP-Tokyo Committee to lead Waseda University's youth student movement. He worked in the Central Committee of the JCP from 1982.

Head of the Secretariat (1990–2000)
In 13 July 1990, Shii became the head of the party's Secretariat. In 1993, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for the first time for Chiba 1st district, then a multi-member electoral district with five slots, narrowly coming in last at 5th place with just 1,020 votes over sixth-place LDP candidate Kazuo Eguchi.

Chairman of the JCP Executive Committee (2000–2024)
Shii became the party's leader in 24 November 2000.

In 2006, Shii became the first JCP chairman to visit South Korea, where he traveled to an international conference of Asian political parties. He visited the site of Seodaemun Prison and paid tribute to the memory of Korean anti-colonial activists who were imprisoned during the period of Japanese colonialism. Shii also met the speaker of the National Assembly, the chairman of the Uri Party, and the floor leader of the Grand National Party. He also became the first JCP leader to visit the United States, doing so in April 2010.

In 2016, Shii proposed a "national coalition government", promoting the joint fielding of candidates with other opposition parties. That year, he amended the JCP constitution to accept the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Imperial House for the time being.

In early 2023, it was rumored that Shii was facing turmoil within his own party due to his failure to gain the party traction and his length of leadership. At a press conference on 19 January, former party foreign policy committee director Nobuyuki Matsutake called it "far from the common sense of the people" for Shii to hold onto his position for over 20 years and advocated for the reform of the party leadership election system so that the party leader would be elected directly by the party members. On 21 January, party newspaper Shimbun Akahata published commentary piece titled "Clear deviation from the constitution and platform", rebutting his words and actions; Shii called the commentary "correct" at a press conference on 23 January, saying calls to introduce a public election system was a violation of the party constitution.

Chairman of the Central Committee (2024–)
At the JCP convention on 18 January 2024, Shii's resigned as the Party chairman, with Tomoko Tamura succeeding him. On the same convention, Shii was appointed as the chairman of the Central Committee, a post that has been vacant since 2006.

Foreign relations
In 2020, under Shii's leadership, the Japanese Communist Party denounced the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government for its activities in the East China Sea, in the South China Sea, and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. A position paper issued by the party said that China's "great-power chauvinism and hegemonism" were "an adverse current to world peace and progress." At the party's conference in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shii said that "the Chinese leadership’s mistake is extremely serious. That action does not deserve the name of the Communist Party." The Japanese and Chinese communist parties had previously been diverging for decades.

He has been sanctioned by Russia over his support for Ukraine.

Personal life
Shii plays the piano; he has said music is "a part of his life" and seriously considered becoming a musician. When he was about to begin university, he considered majoring in music or physics, and chose physics in the end. Shii says his favorite composers are Franz Schubert and Dmitri Shostakovich. Despite being on starkly opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, Shii took part in a dialogue with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2020, where they discussed their mutual love for classical music.