March 9, 2023

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Tamura Takaaki attended an online ceremony hosted by a non-profit organization working to promote debate in Japan, the Japan Debate Association (JDA), and received the JDA “2022 debater of the year” award.

The JDA, as the reasons for granting the debater of the year award to Tamura, cited his Diet questioning at the March 10, 2022 meeting of the Lower House Special Committee on Disaster Countermeasures.

In the meeting, Tamura noted that under evacuation situations, sexual minorities experience various problems, and demanded that the government in its disaster-related policies take into account this issue. Minister in charge of disaster management at that time Ninoyu Satoshi in reply expressed his intent to accept Tamura’s demand.

At the online ceremony, JDA head Aonuma Satoshi (International Christian University professor) said that Tamura in his questioning cited concrete examples drawn from past several disasters, including the 2011 Tohoku quake and tsunami, and asked the government about its position regarding problems that sexual minorities face when they take shelter. He evaluated the debate between Tamura and the minister as constructive.

Tamura said, “What I keep in mind is to engage in discussions on government policies based on people’s demands. I will work even harder to conduct debates that prioritize people’s demands.”