Kōzō Akino is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the

House of Councillors of Japan 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 ...

, since 2010. He represents the National proportional representation block as a member of the

Komeito , formerly New Komeito and abbreviated NKP, is a conservative political party in Japan founded by lay members of the Buddhist Japanese new religious movement Soka Gakkai in 1964. Since 2012, it has served in government as the junior coalitio ...

party. He currently serves on the following committees: * Committee on Financial Affairs (Director) * Committee on Discipline * Special Committee on Okinawa and Northern Problems * Deliberative Council on Political Ethics

Early life

Akino was born on July 11, 1967, in the Hyogo Prefecture of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He graduated from the

Nagasaki University is a national university of Japan. Its nickname is ''Chōdai'' (). The main campus is located in Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. History Nagasaki University was established in 1949 by incorporating several national ...

School of Medicine in 1992. He also earned a doctorate in Biomedical Sciences from that same university, in 1996.

Career

Medical career

Prior to his election to the House of Councillors, Akino worked as professor of medicine and directed offices in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. A summary of his career is below: * 1996-2000: Assistant professor in the School of Medicine, Nagasaki University. * 2000-01: received specialized instruction at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. * 2001-06: Lecturer in the School of Medicine, Nagasaki University. * 2006-08: Assistant Director of the Disease Control Division of the Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. * 2008-09: Assistant Director of the Blood and Blood Products Division of the Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. * 2009-10: Director of the Tokyo Airport Quarantine Branch, Tokyo Quarantine Station.

Political career

In 2010, he was elected to the House of Councillors. He is currently in his second term, which will expire in 2022. During his terms in office he has served as chairman of several different committees in the House of Councillors, including: * 2014-16: Special Committee on Disasters * 2016-18: Committee on Judicial Affairs * 2018-20: Committee on General Affairs * 2020–present: Committee on Financial Affairs He has also briefly served in the Cabinet. In 2012 he served as Parliamentary Secretary of the Environment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akino, Kozo Japanese politicians Japanese physicians 1967 births Living people