Takeyuki Watanabe (born April 18, 1968, in Gifu Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese politician who has served as a member…Takeyuki Watanabe (born April 18, 1968, in Gifu Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan since 2010. He represents the Gifu at-large district and is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He is one of three State Ministers for Reconstruction in the Second Kishida Cabinet.
Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝, Sugihara Chiune; 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as…Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝, Sugihara Chiune; 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his career and the lives of his family. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania. Lithuania declared the year 2020 as "The Year of Chiune Sugihara" in his honor. Today, the estimated number of descendants of those who received "Sugihara visas" ranges between 40,000 and 100,000. In 2021, a street in Jerusalem was dedicated in his honor. There is street “Sempo Sugihara” in Tel Aviv-Jaffa as well.