Ishida was born in Sapporo and graduated from Meiji University's business school, after which he worked at the advertising department of Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai's official newspaper.

Komeito was intimately involved with Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu's plans to give a $9 billion package intended as an aid to the US-led Gulf War.

[3] In August 1993, Ishida was appointed to head the Management and Coordination Agency (now the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) under Prime Minister Hosokawa,[2] making him the first Komeito leader to preside over a ruling government coalition.

[5] Complications ensued in the National Diet after this when, during a question and answer session held in the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, LDP politicians Hiromu Nonaka and Shizuka Kamei requested a witness summons of Soka Gakkai's honorary leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Following the closing of the ordinary session of the Diet in June 2000, Ishida retired from politics,[2] but remained as an honorary advisor for Komeito[2] as well as in a managerial position for Soka Gakkai.