Kazuya Shimba

Kazuya Shimba (榛葉 賀津也, Shimba Kazuya, born April 25, 1967) is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Ogasa District, Shizuoka, he graduated from Otterbein College, Ohio, United States and attended Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. He was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 2001 after serving in the town assembly of Kikugawa, Shizuoka. In 2009, he was appointed to the post of Deputy Minister of Defence by the Minister of Defence, Toshimi Kitazawa.