YAMAGUCHI Natsuo

山口那津男

Yamaguchi served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1996 and has been serving as a member of the House of Councillors since 2001. Yamaguchi, who had held the position of Komeito Party (公明党, Kōmeitō) leader since 2009, announced in September 2024 that he would not run in the party leadership election scheduled for the same month. Keiichi Ishii was elected as his successor without opposition. Following this, Yamaguchi assumed the role of the party's Senior Advisor.

As the party leader, Yamaguchi supported Komeito’s stance on constitutional revision, known as "kaken" (additive revision), as expressed in his 2019 speech (2019 speech). Komeito’s proposal of "kaken" involves adding necessary provisions to the existing constitution, rather than amending it, in order to address contemporary issues such as new human rights and the expansion of local autonomy, which were not anticipated at the time the current constitution was enacted.