Yasuo Ichikawa (一川 保夫, Ichikawa Yasuo, born February 6, 1942) is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature) and is the former Minister of Defence.

Yasuo Ichikawa
一川 保夫
Minister of Defence
In office 2 September 2011 – 13 January 2012
Prime Minister	Yoshihiko Noda
Preceded by	Toshimi Kitazawa
Succeeded by	Naoki Tanaka
Personal details
Born	(1942-02-06) 6 February 1942 (age 82) Komatsu, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party→ Renewal Party→ New Frontier Party→ Liberal Party→ Democratic Party
Alma mater	Mie University

A native of Komatsu, Ishikawa and graduate of Mie University, he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 1965 to 1990, and had served in the assembly of Ishikawa Prefecture for two terms since 1991. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1996 as a member of the New Frontier Party by proportional representation – he failed to win the Ishikawa 2nd district from Liberal Democrat Yoshirō Mori four times in a row. After losing also his proportional seat in 2005, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 2007. In 2011, under Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's cabinet, he was selected as Minister of Defense^[1]

In December 2011 he was the subject of a censure motion from the opposition LDP for failing to know the details of the 1995 rape where three US servicemen kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl. This followed his subordinate Satoshi Tanaka speaking with reporters in a bar and using euphemisms for sexual assault to discuss moving the US Futenma airbase. Tanaka was sacked as director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau,^[2] and in the cabinet reshuffle of January 13, 2012 Ichikawa was replaced by Naoki Tanaka.^[3]