Hidehisa Otsuji

Hidehisa Otsuji (尾辻 秀久, Otsuji Hidehisa, born October 2, 1940) was a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in the Cabinet of Junichirō Koizumi.

Hidehisa Otsuji
尾辻 秀久
Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan
In office
27 September 2004  31 October 2005
Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi
Preceded byChikara Sakaguchi
Succeeded byJirō Kawasaki
Senior Vice Minister of Finance
In office
21 September 2001  30 September 2002
Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi
Preceded byMasatoshi Wakabayashi
Succeeded byTakayoshi Taniguchi
Personal details
Born (1940-10-02) 2 October 1940
Kaseda, Kagoshima, Japan
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo
Third Realigned Koizumi Cabinet
(2005-10-31)
SecretaryShinzō Abe
Internal AffairsHeizō Takenaka
JusticeSeiken Sugiura
Foreign AffairsTaro Aso
FinanceSadakazu Tanigaki
EducationKenji Kosaka
HealthJirō Kawasaki
AgricultureShoichi Nakagawa
EconomyToshihiro Nikai
LandKazuo Kitagawa
EnvironmentYuriko Koike
DefenseFukushiro Nukaga
Ministers of StateTetsuo Kutsukake, Kaoru Yosano, Koki Chuma, Iwao Matsuda, Kuniko Inoguchi

Upbringing

He was born in Kaseda City in Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. His father was killed in World War II in fighting near the Solomon Islands.

Otsuji briefly attended the National Defense Academy but dropped out in 1961 after his mother died. He later attended the prestigious University of Tokyo, but again dropped out.

World travels

From his own account, Otsuji was unhappy with university education. Reflecting on his youth as en elderly politician, he noted the social unrest at the time and protests against the government of Prime Minister Kishi, and said that lectures were rarely held and there was no worthwhile education to be had. Instead, he took the time to travel the world and visited close to 80 countries over a period of five years. In 1971 he returned to Japan and officially withdrew from Tokyo University and returned to Kagoshima.

Political career

He was elected to the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly in 1979. He was defeated in his run for the House of Representatives in 1986 but was elected to the House of Councillors in 1989.

He served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Management and Coordination in 1992 and became Vice Minister for Okinawa Development in 1994. He was selected to served as Vice Minister of Financial Affairs in 2003 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi and became the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2004.

Otsuji is affiliated to the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi.[1]

Otsuji is also the author of several books, including "Africa Travel Diary" and "Going to Bokemon World." "Bokemon" is a word from the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese meaning "recklessly strong".

House of Councillors
Preceded by
50-member district
Member of the House of Councillors by proportional representation
19892013
Succeeded by
48-member district
Preceded by
Yoshito Kajiya
Member of the House of Councillors from Kagoshima
2013present
Incumbent
Preceded by
Akiko Santo
Vice-President of the House of Councillors of Japan
20102012
Succeeded by
Masaaki Yamazaki
Preceded by
Masakazu Yamamoto
Chair, Budget Committee of House of Councillors of Japan
19981999
Succeeded by
Yasu Kano
Political offices
Preceded by
Chikara Sakaguchi
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan
20042005
Succeeded by
Jirō Kawasaki
Party political offices
Preceded by
Mikio Aoki
Chair, Liberal Democratic Party House of Councillors' Committee
20072010
Succeeded by
Hirofumi Nakasone

References

  1. Nippon Kaigi website
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