Kaoru Yosano

Kaoru Yosano
与謝野 馨
Official portrait, 1998
69th Minister of Finance
In office 18 February 2009 – 16 September 2009
Prime Minister	Tarō Asō
Preceded by	Shōichi Nakagawa
Succeeded by	Hirohisa Fujii
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office 27 August 2007 – 25 September 2007
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Preceded by	Yasuhisa Shiozaki
Succeeded by	Nobutaka Machimura
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office 30 July 1998 – 5 October 1999
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Mitsuo Horiuchi
Succeeded by	Takashi Fukaya
Minister of Education
In office 30 June 1994 – 8 August 1995
Prime Minister	Tomiichi Murayama
Preceded by	Ryōko Akamatsu
Succeeded by	Yoshinobu Shimamura
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 10 November 2003 – 16 November 2012
Constituency	Tokyo PR (2003–2005; 2009–2012) Tokyo 1st (2005–2009)
In office 23 June 1980 – 2 June 2000
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Banri Kaieda
Constituency	Former Tokyo 1st (1980–1996) Tokyo 1st (1996–2000)
In office 10 December 1976 – 7 September 1979
Constituency	Former Tokyo 1st
Personal details
Born	(1938-08-22)22 August 1938 Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Japan
Died	23 May 2017(2017-05-23) (aged 78) Tokyo, Japan
Political party	LDP (1976–2010; 2017)
Other political affiliations	Sunrise (2010–2011) Independent (2011–2017)
Parents	Shigeru Yosano (father) Michiko Yosano (mother)
Relatives	Yosano Akiko (grandmother)
Alma mater	University of Tokyo
Website	Official website

Kaoru Yosano (与謝野 馨, Yosano Kaoru) (August 22, 1938 – May 23, 2017) was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Sunrise Party of Japan and former member of the House of Representatives, serving his ninth term in the Lower House representing Tokyo's first electoral district until his defeat in the 2009 Japanese general election. He was Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzō Abe from August 2007 to September 2007, and Minister of Economic and Fiscal Policy in Tarō Asō's administration from February to September 2009.

Political career

Born the grandson of poets Yosano Akiko and Yosano Tekkan in Tokyo, Yosano graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1963. In 1972 he unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives, then served as secretary to Yasuhiro Nakasone. He ran again in 1976 and was elected. On August 27, 2007, he was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, replacing Yasuhisa Shiozaki. He was replaced by Nobutaka Machimura on September 27 when Yasuo Fukuda succeeded Abe.[1] He was appointed as Minister of Economic and Fiscal Policy and Minister of Regulatory Reform on August 1, 2008.[2]

Yosano meeting with U.S. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner in 2009

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Yosano announced his candidacy for the LDP presidency on September 8, 2008:

"I believe politicians should never mislead the public by showing some rosy pictures. The LDP is facing the biggest crisis since its creation. I will contest the election with high spirits and the courage to lead Japan. Japan is going through a crisis. I will battle the situation for the benefit of the people."[3][4]

In the leadership election, held on September 22, 2008, Tarō Asō was elected with 351 of the 527 votes, while Yosano trailed in second place with 66 votes.[5] In Aso's cabinet, appointed on 24 September 2008, Yosano retained his post as Minister of Economic and Fiscal Policy.[6] On February 18, 2009, with the resignation of Shoichi Nakagawa on the case of the G7 conference, he took office as Minister of Finance and Minister in charge of financial services.

On April 4, 2010, Yosano, Takeo Hiranuma, Hiroyuki Sonoda, Takao Fujii and Yoshio Nakagawa announced their plans to leave the LDP to establish a new political party, the Sunrise Party of Japan.[7] He left the Sunrise Party on 13 January 2011[8] to join the Naoto Kan's cabinet as Minister of Economic and Fiscal Policy.[9]

Yosano was known for advocating an increase in the consumption tax to reconstruct the nation's debt-ridden fiscal structure. After joining the DPJ government, he drew up the plans for the 2012 consumption tax increase. The legislation was passed through the House of Representatives on June 26, 2012[10] and passed the Upper House on August 10, 2012.[11]

Personal life and death

His hobbies included golf, making computers, photography, fishing, and playing Japanese board games.[1] He was a Roman Catholic.[12]

It was announced on September 5, 2012, that he would not run for re-election as he was suffering from throat cancer and had difficulty speaking.[13] Yosano died on May 23, 2017.[14][15]

References

1. Japan Times, "Fukuda's new lineup", August 3, 2008.
2. "Fukuda overhauls Cabinet / LDP executive shakeup also elevates Aso to party No. 2", The Yomiuri Shimbun, August 2, 2008.
3. iht.com, Search for next prime minister of Japan puts spotlight on the economy
4. afp.google.com, Koike launches bid to be Japan's first woman PM Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Aso elected LDP head", The Yomiuri Shimbun, 22 September 2008.
6. "Aso elected premier / Announces Cabinet lineup himself; poll likely on Nov. 2", The Yomiuri Shimbun, 25 September 2008.
7. "Yosano, Hiranuma Decide On Name For New Party". Nikkei Shimbun. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
8. Japan Times Yosano exits party, seen angling for ruling bloc January 14, 2012
9. Japan Times New team seen prioritizing TPP entry, sales tax hike January 15, 2012
10. Japan Times Lower House passes bill to double sales tax June 27, 2012
11. Japan Times Upper House passes bill to hike sales levy August 11, 2012
12. Michael., Doak, Kevin (2011). Xavier's legacies : Catholicism in modern Japanese culture. UBC Press. OCLC 1239778842.
13. Japan Times Tax hike architect Yosano ill, to retire from politics September 6, 2012
14. Yoshida, Reiji (2017-05-24). "Former lawmaker and finance chief Kaoru Yosano dies at 78". Japan Times.
15. Banri Kaieda [1]

External links

• Kaoru Yosano official website
• Kaoru Yosano on Charlie Rose

House of Representatives (Japan)
Preceded by Yojirō Konno Eiichi Tanaka Kiyomasa Katō	Representative for Tokyo 1st district (multi-member) 1976–1979 1980–1996 Served alongside: Yūji Ōtsuka, Banri Kaieda, several others	Constituency abolished
New title New constituency	Representative for Tokyo 1st district 1996–2000	Succeeded by Banri Kaieda
Preceded by Banri Kaieda	Representative for Tokyo 1st district 2005–2009
N/A	Representative for the Tokyo block (PR) 2003–2005 2009–2012	N/A
Political offices
Preceded by Banri Kaieda	Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy 2011	Succeeded by Motohisa Furukawa
Preceded by Tomiko Okazaki	Minister of State for Social Affairs and Gender Equality 2011	Succeeded by Renho
Preceded by Shōichi Nakagawa	Minister of Finance 2009	Succeeded by Hirohisa Fujii
Preceded by Shōichi Nakagawa	Minister of State for Financial Services 2009	Succeeded by Shizuka Kamei
Preceded by Hiroko Ōta	Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy 2008–2009	Succeeded by Yoshimasa Hayashi
Preceded by Tatsuya Ito	Minister of State for Financial Services 2005–2006	Succeeded by Yuji Yamamoto
Preceded by Yasuhisa Shiozaki	Chief Cabinet Secretary August 2007 – September 2007	Succeeded by Nobutaka Machimura
Preceded by Heizō Takenaka	Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy 2005–2006	Succeeded by Hiroko Ōta
Preceded by Mitsuo Horiuchi	Minister for International Trade and Industry 1998–1999	Succeeded by Takashi Fukaya
Preceded by Mitsuharu Warashina	Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political affairs) 1996–1997	Succeeded by Fukushiro Nukaga
Preceded by Ryoko Akamatsu	Minister of Education 1994–1995	Succeeded by Yoshinobu Shimamura
Party political offices
New political party	Co-Leader of Tachigare Nippon Served alongside: Takeo Hiranuma	Succeeded by Takeo Hiranuma (as sole leader)
Preceded by Hakuo Yanagisawa	Chairman of the Tax Research Commission, Liberal Democratic Party 2006	Succeeded by Yuji Tsushima
Preceded by Fukushiro Nukaga	Chairman of the Policy Research Council, Liberal Democratic Party 2004–2005	Succeeded by Hidenao Nakagawa
Preceded by Yoshinobu Shimamura	Chief of the Public Relations Headquarters, Liberal Democratic Party 1997–1998	Succeeded by Mikio Okuda
Preceded by Kōichi Hamada	Chairman of the Public Relations Committee, Liberal Democratic Party 1993–1994	Succeeded by Seishirō Etō