is a Japanese
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who serves as the
Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare
The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japan.
Minister Katsunobu K ...
since August 2022, previously serving from from 2019 to 2020 and from 2017 to 2018. He also served as
Chief Cabinet Secretary
The is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The Chief Cabinet Secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, and also serves as the government ...
from 2020 to 2021. Belonging to the
Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of the
House of Representatives since 2003.
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 ...
and a graduate of the
University of Tokyo, Kato had a bureaucratic career in the
Ministry of Finance before going into politics.
Early life and career
Kato was born as Katsunobu Murosaki on November 22, 1955, in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics in the
University of Tokyo in 1979 and joined the Ministry of Finance. He held various post until being assigned secretary to the Minister of Agriculture Mutsuki Kato in 1994.
Katsunobu eventually married the daughter of Mutsuki Kato. As the family had only daughters, Katsunobu was
adopted
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
by his father-in-law to carry on the family name. The family was based in
Okayama Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...
where Kato would pursue his political career. He retired from the Ministry of Finance in 1995 and became his father-in-law's personal secretary.
Political career
After unsuccessful runs in 1998 and 2000, Kato was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the
2003 general election. He had initially ran as an independent as his father-in-law had left the LDP. However, fellow Okayama politician and former Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto recruited him for the party and when elected, Kato joined the
Heisei Kenkyukai
The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...
led by Hashimoto. This was significant as Hashimoto and Mutsuki Kato had long been rivals in the political world of Okayama.
In August 2007, Kato became parliamentary vice minister to the Cabinet Office in the
Abe Cabinet. He was retained until the end of the
Fukuda Cabinet.
Kato became a confidant of
Shinzo Abe. This was partially due to a family relationship. Mutsuki Kato had been a close ally of
Shintaro Abe
was a Japanese politician from Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was a leading member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He served as foreign minister from 1982 to 1986. He was the father of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Early life and ...
and his wife had remained a close friend of Shinzo's mother
Yoko.
When Abe returned as Prime Minister in December 2012, Kato was appointed
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
The Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary assists the Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Government of Japan.
Officeholders
2000-03
* Shinzo Abe
2006-07
* Hakubun Shimomura ( First Abe Cabinet)
2012-14
* Katsunobu Katō
2021 to present
* ...
. In October 2015 he joined the cabinet for the first time as a minister of state with a portfolio including countermeasures against the declining birthrate and women's empowerment. After a reshuffle in August 2017 he became Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. Kato left cabinet in October 2018 the become Chairman of the General Council, one of the four key posts in the LDP, but he was reappointed as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in September 2019. As such he directed Japan's initial response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Abe resigned as Prime Minister in September 2020, and Kato became
Chief Cabinet Secretary
The is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The Chief Cabinet Secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, and also serves as the government ...
under his successor
Yoshihide Suga. Kato held no significant post following the end of the Suga Cabinet, but when
Kishida reshuffled the cabinet in August 2022 he was once again appointed Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Katō is affiliated with the conservative organization
.
Honours
* : Grand Officer of the
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
(29 October 2014)
Decoraties Staatsbezoeken Japan en Republiek Korea
- website of the Dutch Royal House
References
*
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Katsunobu
Members of the House of Representatives (Japan)
University of Tokyo alumni
People from Okayama Prefecture
Living people
1955 births
Members of Nippon Kaigi
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
21st-century Japanese politicians
Chief Cabinet Secretaries of Japan
Ministers of Health and Welfare of Japan