Kōichi Watanabe

Kōichi Watanabe, a Japanese Liberal Democratic Party politician who represented Hokkaido in the House of Representatives and earlier served three terms as mayor of Iwamizawa, died on the morning of 17 September 2026 at the age of 68. Local broadcasters including HBC and FNN reported that he had fallen at his home on 12 September, been hospitalised in Iwamizawa, and died from a cerebral contusion early on the 17th. Born on 25 November 1957 in Tokyo's Kita ward, he was the son of LDP politician Shōichi Watanabe. After graduating from the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido he worked in dental practice, opening his own clinic in Iwamizawa in 1991, and held community posts including president of the Iwamizawa Junior Chamber and chair of the Iwamizawa and Sorachi PTA federations.

He was elected mayor of Iwamizawa in 2002 and held the office until 31 July 2012. Entering national politics that December, he won a Hokkaido proportional-representation seat after an LDP-Komeito compromise that placed him atop the party list while Komeito contested the Hokkaido 10th district. He was re-elected on the PR list in 2014, 2017 and 2021, serving as parliamentary secretary for defence and the Cabinet Office under Shinzo Abe, then as parliamentary vice-minister and later state minister for internal affairs and communications under Fumio Kishida. Those junior ministerial posts made him a familiar Hokkaido voice on domestic administration files in Tokyo.

In the 2024 general election a low list placement cost him his seat. After Komeito left the ruling coalition he returned as the LDP's Hokkaido 10th candidate in February 2026, losing the district by only 21 votes to Hiroshi Kamiya of the Centrist Reform Alliance but reclaiming a PR seat for a fifth term that brought his cumulative Diet service to about twelve and a half years. Japanese coverage after his death noted that, with no next-ranked LDP substitute on the Hokkaido PR list, election law left the seat vacant.

Japanese outlets remembered a dentist-turned-mayor who became a reliable regional representative. Hokkaido Shimbun, STV, TVh and Mainichi carried same-day obituaries emphasising the fall, the five-day hospital stay and the empty PR seat. His People Forever page gathers verified biography, his 2019 official Diet portrait and local news memorials so candles can be lit in one place.