Political Career
In 2000, Tanaka was elected governor of Nagano Prefecture, a rural prefecture in Japan, standing as an independent without the support of any major Japanese political party. Soon after, Tanaka became a focus of public attention in Japan for policies that represented a radical departure from the priorities of the Japan's bureaucratic establishment. These included his policy of halting dam building, campaigning for environmental issues and abolishing the Nagano Press Club.
These policies were designed to address ruinous public development projects that had left Nagano and many other prefectures burdened by debts. Japan is one of the most heavily dammed countries in the world with more than 3,000 dams and virtually no unobstructed rivers.
In 2002, conservative assemblymen who were upset by Tanaka's challenge to decades of pork-barrel politics forced him from office by passing a vote of no-confidence. But in the ensuing election, Tanaka made a successful comeback, thanks to overwhelming popular vote.
In August 2005, Tanaka formed the New Party Nippon with a handful of other reform-minded members of the House of Representatives.
He lost his governor's post in the August 2006 election to Liberal Democratic Party opponent Jin Murai. He regained political office in the 29 July 2007 elections by winning a seat in the Japanese House of Councillors, the only member of the New Party Nippon to hold a seat in either legislature. He currently serves in the House of Representatives of Japan in the People's New Party.
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