Liberal Democratic Party officer personnel appointments

Prior to the cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Kishida made personnel appointments to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the morning.

Below is a biography of the new officers.

[Career] Taro Aso, Vice President

Taro Aso, who was reappointed as the Liberal Democratic Party's vice president, was elected 14 times in Fukuoka's 8th district of the House of Representatives and is 81 years old.

He is the chairman of the party's third faction, the Aso faction.

His grandfather was former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, and his father, Yoshitaka Taiga, was a member of the House of Representatives.

After graduating from Gakushuin University, he was involved in company management and was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1979 after serving as president of the Junior Chamber International Japan.

He successively held important posts such as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Secretary-General, and was appointed the 92nd Prime Minister in September 2008. However, he suffered a crushing defeat in the House of Representatives election the following year, and the Liberal Democratic Party lost power. rice field.

Since the second Abe Cabinet in 2012, when the Liberal Democratic Party regained power, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance for nearly nine years, supporting the management of the administration, making his tenure as Finance Minister the longest since the end of World War II.

During this time, he promoted the Abe government's economic policy "Abenomics" and tackled important issues such as raising the consumption tax rate twice.

When former Prime Minister Abe, who was said to be his ally, passed away in July, he read a condolence address at the funeral and mourned his death.

Mr. Aso assumed the position of vice-president of the party when the Kishida government was launched last autumn, and Prime Minister Kishida and Secretary-General Motegi held regular meetings to exchange opinions on matters such as the management of the government. I'm here.

Mr. Aso, who loves sports, participated in the Montreal Olympics as a representative of Japan in clay shooting in 1976.

In addition to golf, he has a variety of other aspects, such as walking in the morning as a daily routine to build strength, enjoying cigars, and writing letters with rolling paper.

He professes that "his hobby is manga" and is known for his favorite reading of "Golgo 13" by Takao Saito, a playwright.

[Career] Toshimitsu Motegi, Secretary-General

Toshimitsu Motegi, who was reappointed as secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, was elected 10 times in the Tochigi 5th district of the House of Representatives and is 66 years old.

After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he worked for Marubeni Corporation, a trading company, and studied public policy at Harvard University Graduate School in the United States.

In the 1993 House of Representatives election, he ran for the then Japan New Party and was elected for the first time, and in 1995 he moved to the Liberal Democratic Party.

In November last year, he succeeded the late Wataru Takeshita, former chairman of the general affairs committee, as chairman of the "Motegi faction" and leads the party's second faction with 54 lawmakers.

Motegi has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Minister for Economic Revitalization, as well as chairman of the political affairs research committee and chairman of the election campaign committee in the LDP, and is known as one of the party's leading policy advisors.

As the minister in charge of economic revitalization, he played a central role in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Japan-U.S. Trade Agreement. We also worked on the promotion of the new corona and responded to the border measures.

Then, as Secretary-General Amari, who resigned last November, he was appointed as Secretary-General of the party from Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He spearheaded the House of Councilors election this summer, and the LDP alone won 63 seats, securing a majority of the 125 seats up for re-election, leading to a landslide victory.

As Prime Minister Kishida, Mr. Motegi, who serves as the chairman of the second faction within the party and is deeply involved in the management of the government, will continue to serve together with Vice President Aso, with the aim of maintaining the framework of the government and continuing to stabilize it. It seems.

Motegi had a memory that surprised the bureaucrats of Kasumigaseki.

He lives a night owl and enjoys watching TV dramas every night.

He likes wine, and his hobby of golf is said to be one of the best in the political world.

[Career] Toshiaki Endo, General Affairs Chairman

Toshiaki Endo, who was appointed chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's general affairs committee, was elected nine times in Yamagata District 1 of the House of Representatives and is 72 years old.

He belongs to the Tanigaki group.

After serving as a member of the Yamagata Prefectural Assembly, he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993.

He served as Minister of State for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Vice President of the Organizing Committee of the Games, and was instrumental in holding the Tokyo Games last year.

Known for being close to Prime Minister Kishida, he served as the head of the election campaign headquarters for the Kishida camp in the presidential election two years ago.

And as the person in charge of election affairs, he led the party to victory in two national elections, the House of Representatives election last autumn and the House of Councilors election this summer.

Prime Minister Kishida seems to be aiming to gather opinions in a way that suits him by appointing Mr. Endo, who is highly trusted, as the head of the party's general affairs council, which is the party's decision-making body. .

Mr. Endo devoted himself to rugby when he was a university student, and has been enthusiastically involved in the promotion of sports, such as launching a bipartisan parliamentary federation to popularize jogging and marathons.

He likes Italian food and enjoys the wine that goes well with the food.

Through his hobby of golf, he has deepened exchanges with people in the political and business world.

[Career] Koichi Hagiuda, Chairman of the Policy Research Council

Koichi Hagiuda, who was appointed chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's political affairs research committee, was elected six times in the Tokyo 24 wards of the House of Representatives and is 58 years old.

After graduating from Meiji University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2003 after serving as a member of the Hachioji City Council in Tokyo and a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.

He is close to the deceased former Prime Minister Abe, and after the second Abe administration, he made a name for himself by successively holding positions such as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Acting Secretary-General of the party.

Known for his thorough knowledge of educational administration, when he was Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, he lowered the class capacity of public elementary schools to 35 students or less, in order to realize the so-called ``35-student class'' for all grades. I worked on the revision of the law.

In the Kishida Cabinet, which was inaugurated last autumn, he was appointed as the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, changing from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

As Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, I worked on energy security in response to the situation in Ukraine and measures to deal with the treated water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. I attended the first meeting of the edition "2 plus 2".

As Prime Minister Kishida, Mr. Hagiuda's coordinating ability was highly evaluated, and by appointing Mr. Hagiuda, who was a close aide to Mr. Abe, he aimed to show his attitude of emphasizing the Abe faction, the largest faction within the party, in the management of the government. It seems that there is

Hagiuda enjoys walking his dog and watching sports.

He likes Chinese ramen and gyoza, and his motto is to order a lot and not leave anything behind.

When he was a student, he devoted himself to sports such as baseball and rugby.

[Career] Yutaka Moriyama, Chairperson of the Election Committee

Hiroshi Moriyama, appointed chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's election campaign committee, was elected seven times in the Kagoshima 4th district of the House of Representatives and was 77 years old.

He is the chairman of the Moriyama faction.

After serving as chairman of the Kagoshima City Assembly, he was elected to the House of Councilors for the first time in 1998 and became a member of the House of Representatives in 2004.

In the House of Representatives election in 2005, he was unable to obtain the endorsement of the Liberal Democratic Party because he opposed the postal privatization law, and ran as an independent candidate and was elected, returning to the party the following year.

He has held positions such as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and is well versed in agricultural policy. supported the Kan administration.

As Prime Minister Kishida, it is expected that the number of single-seat constituencies in the House of Representatives election will increase by 10, and it will be difficult to adjust constituencies within the party. By appointing Mr. Moriyama, who is close to former Prime Minister Suga and former Secretary-General Nikai, to the four roles of the party, it seems that the aim is to show the stance of building a united party.

Mr. Moriyama cites Takamori Saigo of his hometown of Kagoshima, who accomplished the Meiji Restoration, as a person he respects.

It means that Takamori Saigo's teaching that "the promotion of agriculture is the foundation of the country" is important.

[Career] Tsuyoshi Takagi, Chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee

Tsuyoshi Takagi, who was reappointed as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Affairs Committee, was elected eight times in Fukui District 2 of the House of Representatives and is 66 years old.

He belongs to the Abe faction.

He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2000, and has served as Minister for Reconstruction and Chairman of the House of Representatives Management Committee.

In this year's ordinary Diet session, all 61 bills submitted by the government were enacted for the first time in 26 years.

As Prime Minister Kishida, Mr. Takagi, who has a certain amount of connections with the opposition parties, will continue to serve in the Diet to facilitate the running of the Diet. It seems that there is a purpose to do so.

Mr. Takagi is from Fukui Prefecture, where nuclear power plants are located, and is known for his thorough knowledge of energy policy.

He has a bright personality and a loud voice, and he plays a lively role at banquets, and is also called "the banquet manager" within the Abe faction.