May 2004 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election
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The May 2004 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election was held on 18 May 2004. The election was held to replace outgoing president Naoto Kan, who resigned following reports that he had failed to pay public pension premiums while serving as health minister in 1996.
Ichirō Ozawa initially announced his candidacy and was expected to be unopposed, but withdrew the day before nominations after revealing that he had also failed to pay pension premiums. Katsuya Okada, who had supported Ozawa, nominated instead and was elected unopposed.[1]
Naoto Kan was elected to a second stint as leader in December 2002. During his tenure, he oversaw a merger with the Liberal Party, strengthening the unified opposition. He led the party to success at the 2003 election, improving its seat count and outpolling the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the proportional representation vote, though falling short of unseating the government. Ichirō Ozawa, former Liberal Party leader, accepted the post of vice-president but remained distant from the party leadership. He declined to attend executive meetings and publicly criticised Kan.[2]
In April 2004, a number of Japanese politicians were exposed as having failed to pay mandatory premiums for the national pension program. Kan admitted that he too had failed to do so while serving as health minister in 1996.[3] He faced pressure to resign from DPJ members including Ozawa, but initially refused.[4] Katsuya Okada, Yukio Edano, and Yoshihiko Noda met with Kan on 8 May and urged him to step down.[5] Kan announced his resignation on 11 May.[6]
Candidates
| Candidate | Offices held | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Katsuya Okada (age 50)  Mie Prefecture | Member of the House of Representatives (1990–) Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Japan (2002–) | |
Withdrew
- Ichirō Ozawa, member of the House of Representatives (1969–) and former leader of the Liberal Party (1998–2003)