Taro Yamada | |
|---|---|
山田 太郎 | |
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Member of the House of Councillors | |
| Assumed office July 29, 2019 | |
| In office December 14, 2012 – July 25, 2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1967-05-12) 12 May 1967 |
| Party | Liberal Democratic |
| Children | 1 |
| Keio University | |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Website | taroyamada |
Taro Yamada (山田 太郎, Yamada Tarō; born May 12, 1967) is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Councillors for the Liberal Democratic Party. He is known as a defender of freedom of expression in manga and anime, and has promoted policies to exempt sexual depictions of fictional characters from legal restrictions.[1] He is an honorary advisor at Association for Freedom of Entertainment Expression.[2]
Taro Yamada was born in Ōta, Tokyo, and began his career as a businessman. After becoming a politician as a member of the Diet for the Your Party in 2012, he lost an election. In 2019 he became a member of the House of Councillors for the Liberal Democratic Party. In the first and second Kishida Cabinets, he served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Digital Affairs and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
During his tenure, he pushed for the inclusion of paragraph 3 in Article 14 of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime to decriminalize manga and anime, and visited Visa headquarters to end financial censorship.[3][4]
See also
References
- Morrissy, Kim (July 23, 2019). "'Otaku Interests' Politician Tarō Yamada Wins Seat in Japanese House of Councillors". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
- "Steam and itch.io "mustn't succumb to unjust pressure with no legal basis," Japan free speech organization urges amidst mass censorship of games". AUTOMATON. August 1, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
- Nair, Rohit (August 19, 2024). "UN's Cybersecurity Draft Excludes Anime & Manga From Censorship Of Content Involving Children". Animehunch. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
- "クレカ表現規制に対するVisaの見解、山田議員が日本法人に「価値判断しない」と再確認 社長の発言を受け". ITmedia (in Japanese). December 3, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
External links
- Official website(in Japanese)