Sō Watanabe
Sō Watanabe | |
|---|---|
渡辺 創 | |
.jpg) Watanabe in 2026 | |
| President of the Centrist Reform Alliance | |
| Assumed office 17 September 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Junya Ogawa |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 2 November 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Shunsuke Takei |
| Constituency | Miyazaki 1st |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 October 1977 Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan |
| Party | CRA (since 2026) |
Other political affiliations | DPJ (until 2016) DP (2016–2018) CDP (2018–2026) |
| Education | Niigata University |
Sō Watanabe (Japanese: 渡辺 創, Hepburn: Watanabe Sō; born 3 October 1977) is a Japanese politician who has been the president of the Centrist Reform Alliance since September 2026 and as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. He was previously a member of the Constitutional Democratic and Democratic parties.
Watanabe became the sole member of the CRA following the decision to disband the party in September 2026.
Career
[edit]Watanabe was born in Miyazaki City and studied law at Niigata University. After graduation, he began working at the Mainichi Shimbun. He resigned from the newspaper in 2009 in order to enter politics as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.[1]
Watanabe ran in the Miyazaki at-large district in the 2010 House of Councillors election, but lost to LDP incumbent Shinpei Matsushita.[2] The following year, he was elected to the Miyazaki Prefectural Assembly for the first time.[3] He was re-elected in 2015.[4]
Watanabe left Democratic Party on 5 February 2018 to join Constitutional Democratic Party on 5 February 2018.[5] He ran for re-election as a CDP candidate in 2019 and was successful.[6]
On 6 September 2021, Watanabe resigned as a member of the prefectural assembly to run for Miyazaki 1st district in the 2021 Japanese general election and defeated incumbent Shunsuke Takei by a very narrow margin of just over 1,000 votes.[7][8]
In the 2021 CDP presidential election, Watanabe served as an endorser of Chinami Nishimura.[9] In the 2024 presidential election, he was an endorser of Yukio Edano.[10]
Watanabe was re-elected in 2024 by a greatly increased margin of 30,000 votes.[11]
In January 2026, he joined most members of the CDP lower house group in joining the new Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA). He ran again in the 2026 election and was re-elected by a margin of 14,000 votes despite the party's enormous defeat. This gave him the largest margin of the seven surviving CRA winners in single-member constituencies. He was considered a potential candidate for the subsequent leadership election, but did not stand.[12]
After the decision was made to disband the CRA in September 2026, the party announced that Watanabe would remain as its sole member for a period of months in order to manage its dissolution, settle funding issues, and support defeated candidates.[13][14]
Political positions
[edit]In response to a 2021 election questionnaires from the NHK and Asahi Shimbun, Watanabe stated that he opposed amending the Constitution, supported allowing separate surnames for married couples, supported legalising same-sex marriage, and supported phasing out nuclear energy.[15][16]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Profile". Watasou.org (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 September 2026.
- ↑ "選挙区開票結果・宮崎". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 11 July 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "宮崎県議会議員選挙". Senkyo.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "宮崎県議会議員選挙". Senkyo.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "立民宮崎県連あす設立". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 4 February 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "宮崎県議選 宮崎市". NHK (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "衆院選 宮崎 開票速報". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 31 October 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "2021 election results - Miyazaki". NHK. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
- ↑ "立憲代表選、4陣営の推薦人は計90人 国会議員の7割固まる". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 19 November 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "枝野幸男氏の推薦人名簿 立憲民主党代表選". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 7 September 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "2024 election results - Miyazaki". NHK. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ↑ "The Centrist Reform Alliance, which suffered a historic defeat in the lower house election, will elect a new leader on the 13th; Kenta Izumi, Junya Ogawa, and Sō Watanabe are among those being considered". FNN (in Japanese). 10 February 2026. Archived from the original on 10 February 2026.
- ↑ "The sole remaining member of the centrist faction is Sō Watanabe; he will be in charge of supporting unsuccessful candidates, with an eye toward continuity". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 11 September 2026.
- ↑ ""Democratic Association" Among Proposed Names for New Party; Aiming to Form Next Week; Centrist, Constitutional Lawmakers Exchange Views". Yahoo News (in Japanese). Asahi TV. 11 September 2026.
- ↑ "NHK House of Representatives Election 2021 Candidate Questionnaire - Miyazaki 1st district". NHK (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 10 November 2021.
- ↑ "Asahi Shimbun and University of Tokyo Taniguchi Laboratory Joint Survey - Sō Watanabe". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 September 2026.
