Chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party

Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party
日本共産党中央委員会幹部会委員長 Niho Kyōsantō Chūōiinkai Kanbu-kai Iin-chō
Logo for the Japanese Communist Party
Flag of the Japanese Communist Party
Incumbent Tomoko Tamura since 18 January 2024
Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party
Type	Party leader
Member of	Executive Committee of the Central Committee
Appointer	Central Committee
Term length	Two to three years
Inaugural holder	Kenji Miyamoto
Formation	7 July 1970
Deputy	Vice Chairpersons

The chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party (日本共産党委員長, Nihon kyōsantō Iin-chō) is the highest position within the Japanese Communist Party. The current chairperson is Tomoko Tamura, who took office on 10 January 2024.

Elections

The chairperson is elected by the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party, which also elects other members of the executive committee including the vice-chairpersons, and the head of the secretariat.

History

The Japanese Communist party was founded on 15 July, 1922. The original leadership position of the party was the General Affairs Chief Secretary. The first General Affairs Chief Secretary was Arakawa Katsuzō.

The party was outlawed by the Japanese government in 1923, and was not refounded until 1945 after the end of World War 2, and political reforms under the American Occupation rule. When the party was reformed, the leadership title was changed to General Secretary.

In 1970 the leadership title was changed once again, this time to Chairperson - which is the currently used title.

List of leaders

No.	Photo	Name (Birth–death)	Constituency / title	Term of office		Prime Minister (term)
				Took office	Left office
General Affairs Chief Secretary (1922–1923)
1		Arahata Katsuzō (1887–1981)	None	5 July 1922	1923		Katō To. 1922–1923
							Yamamoto 1923–1924
2		Sakai Toshihiko (1871–1933)	None	1923	1923
Party outlawed by the Government
General Secretary (1945–1970)
1		Kyuichi Tokuda (1894–1953)	Rep for Tokyo 2nd (1946) Tokyo 3rd (1947–1950)	3 December 1945	14 October 1953		Shidehara 1945–1946
							Yoshida 1946–1947
							Katayama 1947–1948
							Ashida 1948
							Yoshida 1948–1954
2		Sanzō Nosaka (1892–1993)	Cou for Tokyo at-large (1956–1977)	14 October 1953	1 August 1958
							Hatoyama I. 1954–1956
							Ishibashi 1956–1957
							Kishi 1957–1960
3		Kenji Miyamoto (1908–2007)	None	1 August 1958	7 July 1970
							Ikeda 1960–1964
							Satō 1964–1972
Chairperson (1970–present)
1		Kenji Miyamoto (1908–2007)	Cou for National PR (1977–1989)	7 July 1970	31 July 1982		Satō 1964–1972
							Tanaka K. 1972–1974
							Miki 1974–1976
							Fukuda T. 1976–1978
							Ōhira 1978–1980
							Ito 1980 Acting
							Suzuki Z. 1980–1982
2		Tetsuzo Fuwa (born 1930)	Rep for Tokyo 6th	31 July 1982	29 November 1987
							Nakasone 1982–1987
							Takeshita 1987–1989
3		Hiromu Murakami (1921–2007)	Rep for Osaka 3rd	29 November 1987	29 May 1989
4 (2)		Tetsuzo Fuwa (born 1930)	Rep for Tokyo 6th (1969–1996) Tokyo PR block (1996–2003)	29 May 1989	24 November 2000
							Uno 1989
							Kaifu 1989–1991
							Miyazawa 1991–1993
							Hosokawa 1993–1994
							Hata 1994
							Murayama 1994–1996
							Hashimoto 1996–1998
							Obuchi 1998–2000
							Mori 2000–2001
5		Kazuo Shii (born 1954)	Rep for Southern Kanto PR block	24 November 2000	18 January 2024
							Koizumi 2001–2006
							Abe S. 2006–2007
							Fukuda Y. 2007–2008
							Asō 2008–2009
							Hatoyama Y. 2009–2010
							Kan 2010–2011
							Noda 2011–2012
							Abe S. 2012–2020
							Suga 2020–2021
							Kishida 2021–2024
6		Tomoko Tamura (born 1965)	Cou for National PR	18 January 2024	Incumbent
							Ishiba 2024–present