is a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare under Prime Minister

Junichirō Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is ...

. Kawasaki was born in Iga, Mie. His father and grandfather were both politicians. He attended Keio University and graduated with a degree in Commerce. After several years working at Matsushita, Kawasaki won a seat in the House of Representatives, representing

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...

in 1980. Kawasaki is a long-time rival of

Hiroshi Nakai was a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan. He was born in Jilin, China on 10 June 1942, then part of Manchukuo. A graduate of Keio University ...

of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...

, and the two have repeatedly challenged each other for seats representing Mie in the Diet. He served as Minister of Transportation under

Keizō Obuchi was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000. Obuchi was elected to the House of Representatives in Gunma Prefecture in 1963, becoming the youngest legislator in Japanese history, and was re-elected to his ...

, and later as Director of the Hokkaido Development Agency. On October 31, 2005, Junichirō Koizumi chose Kawasaki to head the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Quotes

"We must regret having given him ( Horie) too much credit." ''

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition a ...

'' January 25, 2006 “I do not think that Japan should ever become a multi-ethnic society.”

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, April 22, 2009.

References

, - , - 1947 births Ministers of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan Keio University alumni Living people Politicians from Mie Prefecture 21st-century Japanese politicians {{japan-politician-1940s-stub