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 ...

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 ...

(DPJ), a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

(national legislature).

Overview

A native of

Oyama, Tochigi is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 167,647 in 70,928 households, and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is . In 2006, Oyama became the second most po ...

and graduate of

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

, he was elected to the first of two terms in the

House of Councilors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

in 1983 and then to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993. After losing his seat in 1996 as a member of the New Frontier Party, he was re-elected in 2000 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He later joined the DPJ. He married the daughter of writer

Sōhachi Yamaoka from Niigata was a Japanese author. He wrote a number of historical novels. Politician Kenji Yamaoka is an adopted son. In 1968, he won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for his historical novel ''Tokugawa Ieyasu''. Awards * 1958 - Chunichi Prize * 1 ...

and was adopted into the family. In September 2011 he was appointed as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the National Public Safety Commission、

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety The , is the member of the Cabinet of Japan The is the chief executive body of the government of Japan. It consists of the prime minister, who is appointed by the emperor after being designated by the National Diet, and up to nineteen othe ...

and Minister for the Abduction Issue. in the cabinet of newly appointed Prime Minister

Yoshihiko Noda is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 2011 to 2012. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a member of the House of Representatives (lower house) in the Diet (national legislature). He was named to succeed Naoto ...

. In December 2011 he was the subject of a

censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spi ...

motion from the opposition LDP for failing to declare receiving ¥450,000 from a health food company allegedly involved in a pyramid scheme in 2008, and ¥2.54 million from other organizations involved in pyramid schemes between 2005 and 2008. As consumer affairs chief he was responsible for the

Consumer Affairs Agency The is an administrative agency of the Cabinet Office of Japan responsible for consumer protection established on September 1, 2009. Under the law passed on December 10, 2022, the Consumer Affairs Agency now also has jurisdiction over the issue ...

, which among other things is responsible for protecting consumers against pyramid schemes. Yamaoka said he has returned all the money to the donors. In the cabinet reshuffle of January 13, 2012 he was replaced in both of his cabinet roles by

Jin Matsubara is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). He was appointed Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety and Minis ...

.The Japan Time
New Noda Cabinet on tax push January 14, 2012
Retrieved on August 16, 2012

Notes

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese. Living people 1943 births New Frontier Party (Japan) politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Democratic Party of Japan politicians Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Keio University alumni 21st-century Japanese politicians {{Japan-politician-1940s-stub