is a Japanese politician, government official, and business executive. He was
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications
The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...
from August 2007 to September 2008, and has served as the president and CEO of
Japan Post Holdings
is a Japanese publicly traded Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is mainly engaged in postal and logistics business, financial window business, banking business and life insuran ...
since January 2020.
Early life and government career
![Yoichi Masuzoe Yasuo Fukuda and Hiroya Masuda 20071019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Yoichi_Masuzoe_Yasuo_Fukuda_and_Hiroya_Masuda_20071019.jpg)
Masuda was born in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in 1951, and graduated from the
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
in 1977. He joined the
Ministry of Construction after graduation, and was thereafter appointed to several management positions in the Japanese government, including Director of the Traffic Enforcement Division at
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
Prefectural Police Headquarters (1982), Director of the Railway Traffic Division for
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...
(1986), Director for River Administration Policy Planning at the Ministry of Construction (1993), and Director for Construction Disputes Settlement at the Ministry of Construction (1994).
Political career
Governor of Iwate Prefecture
Masuda served as governor of
Iwate Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...
from 1995 to 2007.
Upon his election, he was the youngest governor in Japanese history at the age of 43.
While serving as Iwate's governor, Masuda developed a reputation as a reformist by cutting spending through personnel cuts and took the initiative in introducing an industrial waste tax system.
Masuda implemented a nationwide public relations campaign starting in 2001 that branded Iwate as a slower, "no effort" lifestyle alternative to Tokyo and other major cities. The campaign was popular locally, and Masuda was re-elected in 2003 with 88% of votes cast.
Minister for Internal Affairs
![Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet 20070926](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Yasuo_Fukuda_Cabinet_20070926.jpg)
Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍 晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...
appointed Masuda to head the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2007.
Shortly after his appointment, he admitted mishandling a 1 million yen donation to his gubernatorial campaign in 2003.
Japan's postal service was privatized under Masuda's watch in October 2007.
He was reappointed as Minister of Internal Affairs when Prime Minister
Yasuo Fukuda
is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō M ...
reshuffled the cabinet on August 1, 2008. In the Cabinet of Prime Minister
Taro Aso
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...
, appointed on September 24, 2008, Masuda was replaced by
Kunio Hatoyama
was a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications under Prime Ministers Shinzō Abe and Yasuo Fukuda until 12 June 2009.
Biography
Kunio Hatoyama was born in Tokyo in 1948. He was a son of Yasuko Hatoyam ...
.
Later activities
Masuda served as chairman of the government's postal privatization committee from 2013 to 2016.
In this role, he gradually relaxed limits on deposits and life insurance policies at Japan Post, resisting political pressure from the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party to relax these limits more quickly.
Masuda wrote a 2013 article in ''Chuo Koron'' magazine arguing that growth in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
was leading to population decay in other regions of Japan, further describing Tokyo as a "population black hole" due to the difficulty of raising children there. Political and corporate leaders in Japan were jolted by the conclusions of a 2014 book by Masuda called ''Local Extinctions'', a detailed report of population changes that used the latest official figures from the National Institution of Population and Social Security Research to show that 896 cities, towns and villages throughout Japan were facing extinction by 2040. At first glance, the book simply repeated what earlier reports had concluded; however, it also included the percentages by which child-bearing women between the ages of 20 and 40 were expected to decline in each and every city, town and village.
Masuda was approached in 2016 by twenty-one of the twenty-three
Tokyo ward mayors to run for
Governor of Tokyo
The is the head of government of Tokyo.
In 1943, upon the unification of Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture, the position of Governor was created. The current title was adopted in 1947 due to the enactment of the Local Autonomy Law.
Overview
The ...
in the
July 2016 election. The Tokyo branch of the
Liberal Democratic Party threw its official support behind Masuda, warning members that they would be reprimanded if they supported rival
Yuriko Koike
is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to ...
(also an LDP member).
Japan Post
Masuda was appointed as President and CEO of
Japan Post Holdings
is a Japanese publicly traded Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is mainly engaged in postal and logistics business, financial window business, banking business and life insuran ...
in January 2020 in the wake of a scandal related to improper sales of insurance products. He had previously turned down an offer to head the company in 2019, but said that he decided to accept out of a sense of duty.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masuda, Hiroya
1951 births
Living people
People from Tokyo
University of Tokyo alumni
Ministers of Internal Affairs of Japan
Governors of Iwate Prefecture
Tokyo gubernatorial candidates