is a Japanese businessman and politician who is the current mayor of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, leader of the

Osaka Restoration Association The , also referred to as One Osaka, is a regional political party in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Founded in 2010 by then-Governor Tōru Hashimoto, its main platform is pursuing the Osaka Metropolis plan of merging the prefecture and some of its ci ...

(ORA) and one of the presidents of

Nippon Ishin no Kai The is a conservative and right-wing populist political party in Japan. Formed as ''Initiatives from Osaka'' in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in the National D ...

alongside

Nobuyuki Baba is a Japanese politician who has been the leader of the Nippon Ishin no Kai since 27 August 2022. He is also a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan, Diet (national legislature), currently ...

Early life

Matsui attended public elementary and middle schools in

Yao, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 263,436 in 126509 households and a population density of 6300 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is the birthplace of the Kawachi o ...

, and moved to

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

for high school. After he graduated from

Fukuoka Institute of Technology is a private university in Higashi-ku of Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1954, and it was chartered as a university in 1963. It is located near Fukkōdaimae Station. Alumni * Ichirō Matsui, g ...

in March 1986, he worked for Kinden, a construction company affiliated with the

Kansai Electric Power Company , also known as , is an electric utility with its operational area of Kansai region, Japan (including the Keihanshin megalopolis). The Kansai region is Japan's second-largest industrial area, and in normal times, its most nuclear-reliant. Be ...

, and Daitu, a privately-held

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

and

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...

company.

Political career

Matsui entered politics in April 2003 when he was elected to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, serving three consecutive terms. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party until 2010, and served in several regional party leadership positions.

Osaka Restoration Association and Japan Restoration Association

In April 2010 Matsui became the first secretary general of the regional

. In September 2012 he also became the founding secretary-general of the new national party, the

Japan Restoration Association The , also referred to in English as the Japan Restoration Association, was a Japanese political party. It was launched on 12 September 2012 and gained official recognition on 28 September 2012. The party grew from the regional Osaka Restoration A ...

Governor of Osaka

After

Tōru Hashimoto is a Japanese TV personality, politician and lawyer. He was the mayor of Osaka city and is a member of Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Osaka Restoration Association. He is one of Japan's leading right-wing conservative-populist politicians. Early ...

decided to step down as governor of Osaka prefecture in order to run as mayor of Osaka city in an effort to advance his plans of merging the two entities, Matsui ran for the governor position to replace him. Matsui was elected to the post in the November 2011 election. In June 2012, Kyozo Isohi, a homeless and unemployed man recently released from jail, stabbed two passersby to death in

Shinsaibashi is a district in the Chūō-ku ward of Osaka, Japan and the city's main shopping area. At its center is , a covered shopping street, that is north of Dōtonbori and Sōemonchō, and parallel and east of Mido-suji street. Associated with Shins ...

with a kitchen knife. Isohi told police that "he was frustrated at having no home and no job prospects, and that he didn’t want to live anymore". Matsui made a controversial remark during a press conference, stating the attacker should have just killed himself instead of harming others. Matsui was re-elected to a second term in the Osaka "double election" of November 2015, scoring an overwhelming victory over his challengers.

Mayor of Osaka

In 2019 Osaka mayoral election, Matsui defeated his opponent, Akira Yanagimoto, and was elected 21st Mayor of Osaka. This is the second person who has experience as governor of Osaka Prefecture to become the mayor of Osaka, after

Toru Hashimoto TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

. In addition, it is the first time since

Kunio Hiramatsu was the mayor of Osaka in Japan. He was elected in 2007 with centre-left support from the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), People's New Party and the Social Democratic Party, defeating the centre-right supported incumbent Jun'ichi Seki by 50,00 ...

that a person who has worked in a private company has been appointed Mayor of Osaka. Matsui has announced his planned retirement from politics in April 2023.

Personal life

Matsui is married with one son and one daughter.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsui, Ichirou 1964 births Living people Japanese anti-communists Japan Restoration Party politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians Governors of Osaka Mayors of Osaka People from Yao, Osaka Nippon Ishin no Kai politicians Fukuoka Institute of Technology alumni Politicians from Osaka Prefecture