Hideo Watanabe (渡辺 秀央, Watanabe Hideo, July 5, 1934 – July 31, 2024) was a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan who was a member of the House of Representatives and House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature) from 1976 to 1993 and 1998 to 2010 respectively.
[1] The LP subsequently merged with the Democratic Party of Japan and Watanabe retained his House of Councillors seat on the DPJ slate in the 2004 election.
He left the DPJ in 2008 to start the Reform Club, which became the New Renaissance Party in April 2010 under the leadership of Yoichi Masuzoe.
He has had close ties with the military's proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party since the time of ex-general Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government.
It is said that he has been close to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing for over a decade, and they met shortly before and after the February 2021 coup.