Masatada Tsuchiya
# Masatada Tsuchiya

Masatada Tsuchiya (土屋 正忠, Tsuchiya Masatada) is a former Japanese lawmaker from the Liberal Democratic Party who lost his single member district seat in the House of Representatives to Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan member Kan Naoto in the October 2017 general election by 1,046 votes.

Tsuchiya entered national politics after resigning from his position as mayor of Musashino, Tokyo in 2005 to run against the then Deputy President of the Democratic Party of Japan, Kan, for the House of Representatives seat in the Tokyo 18th district. Although Tsuchiya lost in the run-off, he was still elected under the party-list proportional representation system. Kan and Tsuchiya have since continued to face off in House of Representatives elections, with Kan holding on to the single member district seat through the 2009 general election, and Tsuchiya capturing the single member district seat in the 2012 general election and the 2014 general election.

In the October 2017 general election, Tsuchiya was unable to secure a seat in the House of Representatives under the party-list proportional representation system due to a rule within the Liberal Democratic Party limiting party-list proportional representation candidates to those aged 73 or under. Tsuchiya was 75 at the time he ran in the October 2017 general election.

