Chūichi Date

Japanese politician (born 1939)

伊達忠一

President of the House of CouncillorsIn office
1 August 2016 – 28 July 2019DeputyAkira GunjiPreceded byMasaaki YamazakiSucceeded byAkiko SantōMember of the House of CouncillorsIn office
29 July 2001 – 28 July 2019Preceded byHisamitsu SuganoSucceeded byHarumi TakahashiConstituencyHokkaidoMember of the Hokkaido Prefectural AssemblyIn office
1991–2001ConstituencyAtsubetsu-ku, SapporoIn office
1983–1987ConstituencyAshibetsu Personal detailsBorn (1939-01-20) 20 January 1939 (age 85)
Ashibetsu, Hokkaido, JapanPolitical partyLiberal DemocraticAlma materSapporo Medical University

Chūichi Date (伊達忠一, Date Chūichi, born January 20, 1939) is a Japanese retired politician of the Liberal Democratic Party who served three terms in the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature) and also served as the LDP's National Diet Committee Chairman.

A native of Ashibetsu, Hokkaido and high school graduate, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 2001 after serving in the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly. He was a former President of the House of Councillors.

After the Assassination of Shinzo Abe in July 2022 he admitted that he had asked Abe for votes from the Unification Church (UC) in the 2016 Upper House election. According to Hokkaido Television Broadcasting reporting, Date has participated in at least three events sponsored by the UC and its front organisations, including an online event in August 2020, where he stated, "I believe that the spirit of coexistence, co-prosperity, and shared meaning, which leaders Moon and Han are preaching, is more desperately needed today than ever." Date testified that when he supported Yoshifumi Miyajima of the LDP, who ran for the House of Councillors in the 2016 national proportional election, he asked Shinzo Abe to provide votes supplied from the UC. He said that Abe agreed and Miyajima was elected for the first time, but that Abe refused to allow him to run for the Upper House this time, and Miyajima had to withdraw from the race.^[1] The UC support was instead distributed to Inoue Yoshiyuki.^[2]^[3]