Hidehisa Otsuji
is a Japanese politician who serves as the President of the House of Councillors since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of the House of Councillors since 1989, serving as Vice President of the House of Councillors from 2010 to 2012 and as Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare from 2004 to 2005. Early life and education He was born in Kaseda City in Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. During the Pacific War, his father, Shuichi, was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy and captain of the destroyer Yūgiri. In 1943, he went down with the ship in the Battle of Cape St. George. Otsuji briefly attended the National Defense Academy but dropped out in 1961 to support his sister after their mother died. He later attended the prestigious University of Tokyo, but again dropped out. From his own account, Otsuji was unhappy with university education. Reflecting on his youth as en elderly politician, he noted the social unrest at the time and protests against the government of Prime Minister Kishi, and said that lectures were rarely held and there was no worthwhile education to be had. Instead,