Yasuhiro Sonoda

Japanese politician

Yasuhiro Sonoda (園田 康博, Sonoda Yasuhiro, born June 9, 1967) is a former Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.

## Life and career[edit]

### Education[edit]

A native of Amakusa District, Kumamoto, he attended Nihon University as undergraduate and graduate students and Keio University as a research student.[1]

### Political career[edit]

Sonoda was elected for the first time in 2003 after unsuccessful runs in 1998 and 2000.[1]

Sonoda became internationally known for drinking a glass of water, collected from puddles under the reactor buildings at the radioactively polluted Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and then decontaminated, during a press conference in October 2011 after being challenged to do so.[2][3]

Sonoda quit politics in June 2015, following a failed run in the 2014 Japanese general election.[4]

### Post-political life[edit]

He served as representative director of ACD, an online shopping subsidiary of All Nippon Airways, from March 2018 to March 2020, when he was transferred to WeSearch, an ACD subsidiary.[5]

#### Death hoax[edit]

In the wake of the August 2023 discharge of ALPS-decontaminated water of the Fukushima Daiichi, widespread hoaxes on the Chinese internet claimed that Sonoda died of cancer in Palau.[6] On September 2, 2023, Sonoda was interviewed by Kyodo News via telephone, in which he "once again" apologized to the people of Fukushima - for his actions being made into a rumor.[7]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b 政治家情報 〜園田 康博〜 [Politician information: SONODA Yasuhiro]. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
2. ^ BBC: Japan MP Yasuhiro Sonoda drinks Fukushima water, 1 November 2011
3. ^ Die Welt (German): Politiker trinkt Fukushima-Wasser ("Politician drinking Fukushima-water"), 1 November 2011
4. ^ 園田元副環境相 政界を引退へ 民主県連が公表／岐阜 [Former Deputy Environment Minister Sonoda to retire from politics announced by Democratic Prefectural Federation at Gifu]. 毎日新聞. June 14, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
5. ^ 株式会社ACD. 代表取締役の異動に関するお知らせ [Notice Regarding Change of Representative Director].
6. ^ Taiwan Fact-Check Center (September 2023). 【錯誤】網傳「帛琉衛生局宣布：日本前政務次長園田康博喝下核廢水後，2020年因骨髓癌於帛琉死亡」？ [[FALSE] Internet says "Palau Ministry of Health: former Japanese parliamentary secretary dead in 2020 from bone marrow cancer after drinking radioactive wastewater"?].
7. ^ INC, SANKEI DIGITAL (2023-09-02). 中国の「死亡」デマ否定 園田氏、福島の人に謝罪 [Sonoda denies China's 'death' hoax, apologizes to people in Fukushima]. 産経ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-09-02.

## External links[edit]

* Former official website in Japanese (2013).

Authority control databases

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* VIAF

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* Japan

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