Kazuo Shii

Kazuo Shii 志位 和夫
Chair of Japanese Communist Party
Incumbent
Assumed office November 24, 2000
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office July 18, 1993
Personal details
Born	(1954-07-29) July 29, 1954 Yotsukaidō, Chiba
Political party	Japanese Communist Party
Alma mater	Tokyo University
Occupation	Politician
Website	shii.gr.jp

Kazuo Shii (志位 和夫, Shii Kazuo, born 29 July 1954) is a Japanese politician and chairman of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP).

Early life

Shii was born in Yotsukaido, Chiba Prefecture. He graduated from the Department of Physical Engineering at Tokyo University. He joined the JCP during his first year at the University and became an active participant in the party's student wing.

Political career

In 1990 Shii became the head of the Secretariat and was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in 1993. At the party congress in 2000 Shii was elected as party leader.

Shii became the first JCP chairman to visit South Korea, and first Japanese politician to visit the site of Seodaemun Prison. He paid tribute to the memory of Korean anti-colonial activists who were imprisoned during the period of Japanese colonialism.

Interests

Shii plays the piano. Shii claims the music is "a part of my life" and seriously considered to be a musician. When he was about to enter the university, he wrestled the choice between majoring music and physics, and chose physics in the end. Shii says his favorite composers are Franz Schubert and Dmitri Shostakovich.

External links

• Official page (Japanese)
• Kazuo Shii on Twitter (Japanese)
• Interview with C.B.Liddell in Metropolis magazine