Kōno Hironaka (河野 広中, 24 August 1849 – 29 December 1923) was a politician and cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan.

[1] Kōno was a native of Mutsu Province (modern-day Fukushima Prefecture), where his father, Iwamura Hidetoshi, was a samurai in the service of Miharu Domain, who supplemented his 100 koku income through trade in clothes, sake brewing and wholesale of marine products.

During the Boshin War, he fought against his family, whose Miharu Domain remained loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate and which was a member of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei.

With the Satsuma Rebellion, Kōno resisted attempts to recruit him to the side of Saigō Takamori, but instead joined Itagaki in forming the Aikokusha movement, pushing for the creation of a national assembly.

[2] Kōno was briefly (for a six-day period) Speaker of the Lower House in December 1903, causing an uproar for calling for the impeachment of Prime Minister Katsura Tarō during his inaugural speech in front of Emperor Meiji.