Zembei Horikiri (ãÂȋÂÂãÂÂã ãÂÂãÂÂã¹ãÂÂ, 4 May 1882 â 25 November 1946) was a Japanese politician and economist who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1929 to 1930 and Ambassador to Italy from 1940 to 1942. He belonged to the Rikken Seiyukai party, and held several ranks in the Japanese imperial court. While ambassador, he worked to foster cooperation among the Tripartite Pact powers, alongside Ambassador to Germany Hiroshi Oshima. His brother, Zenjirà  Horikiri, served as Minister for Home Affairs under Prime Minister Kijà «rà  Shidehara. Horikiri died at home in Iizaka in 1946, aged 64.
Born as the eldest son of Ryohei Horikiri in Kami-Iizaka, Fukushima Prefecture (now Fukushima City), he graduated in 1903 from the Faculty of Commerce, Keio University. He studied abroad at Harvard University, Oxford University, and Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany, then returned to teach at Keio University. He was an economist, specializing in economic theory, public finance, commercial policy, and colonial policy. His younger brothers were Zenjiro Horikiri, who held posts including Minister of Home Affairs, and Hisagoro Uchiike, also a member of the House of Representatives.
He was elected consecutively 10 times from the 11th general election in 1912 to the 20th general election in 1937. In 1912, in his campaign for the 11th general election, he ran as a Rikken Seiyukai candidate from Fukushima Prefecture 1st District and was elected. He served as party secretary and general secretary. In 1918, he became secretary to Finance Minister Korekiyo Takahashi. In 1921, he concurrently served as Counselor at the Ministry of Finance and secretary to Prime Minister Takahashi. In 1924, he was appointed Commerce and Agriculture Ministry Counselor in the Kato Cabinet. In 1925, he became Commerce Ministry Counselor under Kato Cabinet.
In March 1927, he was investigated and charged with assault related to a parliamentary brawl. On 16 December 1927, he was fined 50 yen.
In 1929, he was elected the 27th Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1931, he was appointed Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Finance under the Inukai Cabinet. In 1939, he joined the Reform Alliance faction of the Seiyukai party. In 1940, at the request of Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka, he became Ambassador to Italy. On 11 December 1941, he stood alongside Benito Mussolini on the balcony of the Piazza Venezia in Rome as Italy's declaration of war on the United States was announced.
He worked to bolster Tripartite Pact cooperation along with Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima. In 1941, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class. In 1942, he resigned as Ambassador and served as Special Envoy in Europe for two years. He returned to Japan in 1944. On 24 February 1945, he was appointed Imperial Appointed Member of the House of Peers. In 1946, he was purged from public office, resigned from the House of Peers on 15 June 1946, and died of a peptic ulcer at home in Iizaka on 25 November 1946, aged 64.