Member of the House of Representatives Yoichiro Aoyagi

Becoming a politician who responds to social changes and influences the Diet

Member of the House of Representatives, Yoichiro Aoyagi

■ Profile
Born in 1969. Served as policy secretary to the Minister of State and first elected in the 2012 House of Representatives election. Currently serving his fifth term. Deputy Chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Representative of the Kanagawa Prefectural Chapter, and also serves as a member of the Japan National Committee for UNESCO. He has organized numerous international exchange events, including co-chairing the Vietnam Festival and Secretary General of the China Festival. He graduated from the Graduate School of Public Management at Waseda University and is a native of Yokohama.

Yoichiro Aoyagi continues to tackle reforms at the forefront of national politics, listening to the voices of the local community. He has sought to realize a more open politics by promoting efficiency in less visible areas, such as moving the Diet online and going paperless. In this era of change, he continues to question the nature of politics that reconnects people with each other.

■About my student days

Many people who enter the political profession have lofty goals and ambitions from a young age, such as "I want to become a politician in the future" or "I want to become a politician and change this country." However, I didn't initially plan to become a politician. I led a normal university life, participating in sports clubs, traveling with friends, and pursuing my hobbies. However, if you ask me, "Did I never hear anything about politics?" the answer is no. My father was originally very interested in politics, and he also started and ran a company, interacting with many politicians. Therefore, I often heard about politics, policies, and social conditions from my student days. In my final year of university, after returning from a year abroad, my father told me to "go work as a bag carrier at a politician's office," and I plunged into the world of politics, which I didn't know much about, and that was the beginning of my career in politics.

From then on, the days were extremely tough. I worked every day from early morning until late at night. I remember working as hard as I could to be of help to the representative, or rather, to avoid being a burden. As I worked hard in this way, he started to like me, my work was recognized, and before I knew it, I had been given a decent position. Gradually, I began to think that "working in politics is rewarding." Also, seeing the challenges facing society and supporting the representatives' desperate efforts to change them up close, my own awareness of the issues grew.

After serving as a policy secretary to a minister, he ran for office and was elected.

My time as a student intern (bag carrier) and a young secretary was extremely tough, but as I was given more and more responsibilities, I felt a growing sense of responsibility and a sense of responsibility that "I have to do it." After gaining experience working in the Cabinet as a policy secretary to a Minister of State, I eventually decided to enter the world of politics, and first consulted with many senior members. In 2012, I received an invitation from a senior member of the People's Party, a party that was gaining attention as a venture political party, and decided to run for office. The deciding factor was my electoral district. I was determined to run in the Hodogaya Ward of Yokohama, the city where I grew up. Thanks to this, I was elected for five consecutive terms in 2012, 2014, 2017, 2021, and 2024, and I currently serve in the Constitutional Democratic Party, the largest opposition party.

■ Main initiatives

The job of the Diet is to create laws and budgets. The Diet has sessions, so the content of the laws is important, but the schedule for deliberating on those laws is also very important. My job as the "Chief Director of the House Management Committee" involves organizing the Diet schedule, conducting thorough deliberations, and deciding whether to pass, amend, or scrap bills and budgets within the session. Although it may seem unglamorous, I feel that it is an important job that supports the core of Diet operations.
The Diet reform initiatives that I have led in the House Administration Committee can be broadly divided into three categories.
One of these is "digitalizing the Diet and introducing online deliberations." While many Diet reforms are under the radar, constant reforms that keep up with the times are necessary. Among these, I have particularly focused on "digitalizing the Diet." Until now, online deliberations were not permitted in the Diet at all. In order to change this situation, I have been carefully working on each step, from revising the interpretation of the Constitution to amending laws and improving systems and budgets.
The term "digitalization" may sound simple, but in reality, there was debate even about the definition of Diet attendance as stipulated in the Constitution, and it took a certain number of years and many adjustments to achieve this. This initiative has enabled more flexible questioning and discussion in the Diet, and I feel that it has marked the first step in new Diet operations suited to the digital age.
The second initiative is "gender and diversity reform in the Diet." Japan's Diet currently has an extremely low ratio of female legislators, even among the world's democracies. Believing that "Diet should take the lead in demonstrating diversity," I have promoted institutional reforms. Specifically, we introduced maternity leave, established a childcare leave system, and revised the system to officially recognize childbirth as a reason for absence. These initiatives were significantly behind the private sector. I believe this was a fundamental reform that transformed the Diet. By creating an environment in which women and young people feel more comfortable in political arenas, we aim to make the Diet itself a reflection of society's diversity. These reforms have been highly praised by gender researchers, academics, and others.
The third is the enactment of the Basic Act on Promoting Measures to Combat Loneliness and Isolation. Unfortunately, the number and rate of suicides in Japan remain high, and suicide among young people in particular has become a serious social issue. It is believed that the underlying causes of this include issues of loneliness, social withdrawal, and social isolation. In response to this current situation, I worked to enact the Basic Act on Promoting Measures to Combat Loneliness and Isolation. This law establishes a support system to prevent people from falling into isolation and provides a framework for helping those who have become isolated to reintegrate into society. It is a program law that stipulates that the national government, local governments, and local communities work together to address these issues, and I served as the person responsible for coordinating the bill. I believe that creating a system in which people can support each other throughout society is also a role of politics.

■Message to university students

I want you to try all kinds of things. You're at an age where failure is a valuable experience, so if something seems interesting and catches your interest, it's very important to give it a try, meet people, and go there. I want you to experience it for yourself, not just rely on information online. By traveling around the world, you'll meet interesting people and have stimulating experiences, and at the same time, you'll probably realize how wonderful Japan is. I encourage you to experience the world while you're young.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on July 23, 2025 by Chiharu Yamada, second-year student at the University of Information, Management and Innovation

Yurie Watanabe, second-year student at Josai International University / Chiharu Yamada, second-year student at Information, Management and Innovation University