Yukihisa Fujita

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Yukihisa Fujita (藤田 幸久) is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a member of the House of Councillors, the upper house of Japan's parliament. He is the Director-General of the DPJ's International Department. Fujita is a native of Mito, Ibaraki and graduate of Keio University, Faculty of Letters.

Career
Elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1996, after losing the 2000 re-election, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the second time in 2003. He was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 2007.

In the House of Councillors, Fujita is the Director of the Committee on Financial Affairs, one of the six directors of the ad hoc Research Committee on International Affairs and Global Warming Issues, and a member of the Committee on Audit. Fujita is the Director-General of the Democratic Party of Japan's International Department.

From 1975 to 1979, Fujita participated in the MRA Good Will Ambassador “Song of Asia”, and visited 14 countries; was actively involved in Moral Re-Armament (Initiatives of Change) MRA(IC) movement, visiting 45 countries. A founding member of the NGO, Association for Aid and Relief, becoming a board member.

In 1984, Fujita became a member of the Board of Directors for the NGO, IC International Japan.

When he was originally elected in 1996, as a Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Fujita became known as the first politician with an International NGO background.

His humanitarian work includes helping to save the lives of Japanese NGO workers who were kidnapped in Iraq and were later released; visiting and providing operational assistance to Indonesia and Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean Earthquake-Tsunami in 2005; and participating in the field assessment mission to Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake.

Views on the September 11 attacks
In January, 2008, Fujita questioned the account of the attacks of September 11, 2001, demanding an independent investigation into the possibility that the events did not unfold as described by the investigations conducted by United States government agencies. He has published a book entitled "Parliamentary pursuit of suspicion over 9/11 terrorism".

On October 22, 2008, Fujita made a speech on the floor of the Japanese Diet in which he took up his previous remarks. He also read arguments for the impeachment of George W. Bush, the U.S. President at the time, that Dennis Kucinich presented to the United States House of Representatives in the summer of that year, and reported on demands for impeachment and new 9/11 investigations issued by Ron Paul, another member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

An editorial published by the Washington Post in March 2010 harshly criticized Fujita for what the U.S. newspaper called a "bizarre, half-baked and intellectually bogus" conspiracy theory about the September 11 attacks. It argued that his views reflected a "strain of anti-Americanism that runs through the DPJ and the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama" and said that the U.S.-Japan relationship would be "severely tested" if Hatoyama tolerated it.

Fujita issued a statement in which he said that he "never drew the conclusion that 9/11 was a conspiracy" and did not call the events "a hoax". He also asserted that the editorial contained factual errors, including its title. He said his comments were part of an informal chat that was separate from the interview he gave to the Washington Post. Hatoyama stated that Fujita's views were not those of the DPJ or the Japanese government. In a featured Letter to the Editor published by the Japan Times, Fujita wrote that after the interview, he answered to an informal question by explaining the circumstances that had led him to become interested in issues related to the September 11 attacks, and pointed out several questions about the events of that day that, in his view, remain unexplained.

Other publications
1. United Nations and Global Civil Society — A New Horizon (Co-Authored, 2006)

2. A Politician Who Did Not Want to Become Politician – Roles of NGO in Politics (2003 )

3. World Peace from the Perspective of Religion (1991)

4. Japan’s Decisive Decade (Translation, 1990)

5. Flame in the darkness on USSR Dissents (Translation, 1981)

Articles
1. Aso Minig’s Indelible Past : Prime Minister Aso should seek reconciliation with former POWs (Japan Focus, Msy2009)

2. Russia Moving Towards Autocracy and Hegemonism (Oct 2006)

3. Prime Minister Kishi’s Diplomacy of Reconciliation （Japanecho, Aug 2006）

4. Lessons to be Learned in the Emergency Relief Operations (Oct 2006)

5. Indian Ocean Tsunami and Pakistan Earthquake （Aug 2006）

6. The Role of NGO Diplomacy in the Conflict Resolution （June 2002）

7. Replacing the Cycle of Retaliation by Reconciliation (Sep 2001)

8. Political Solutions for the Pacific War Compensation Lawsuit by the US Prisoners of War (Sep 2001)