Tatsuo Fukuda (福田達夫, Fukuda Tatsuo, born 5 March 1967) is a Japanese politician who currently serves as chairman of the General Council of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He also serves as 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 ...

for the Liberal Democratic Party. He is the son of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Yasuo Fukuda is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō M ...

and grandson of former Prime Minister

Takeo Fukuda was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978. Early life and education Fukuda was born in Gunma, capital of the Gunma Prefecture on 14 January 1905. He hailed from a former samurai family and his father was mayor ...

Early life and career

Tatsuo Fukuda was born on 5 March 1967 in Tokyo, Japan. Fukuda graduated from Keio University and subsequently studied at the

School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of th ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. Following a decade as an employee of the

Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemical ...

, Fukuda served as a secretary for his father, Yasuo, when he was chief cabinet secretary. Upon his father's ascension to the prime ministership in 2007, Fukuda served as his secretary.

Political career

Following his father's retirement in 2012, Fukuda was elected to the

in the 2012 General Election, representing

Gunma 4th District is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Southern Gunma and consists of the city of Fujioka, the Southern part of Takasaki city (without the former municipalities of Gunma, Misato, ...

. He is a member of the

Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai ( ja, 清和政策研究会, lit. Seiwa Political Research Council), often shortened to Seiwakai is a major faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). It was led by Shinzo Abe from 2021 until his assassinati ...

, currently the largest faction in the Liberal Democratic Party.

Kishida government

Following his victory in the 2021 Liberal Democratic Party Leadership Election, Fumio Kishida appointed Fukuda chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's General Council. In 2022, following the assassination of former Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

, Fukuda dismissed scrutiny emanating from revelations of connections between the

Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or " Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Sp ...

and his fellow party members, stating: "frankly speaking, I don’t really know what the problem is." Fukuda went on to add he had no connections with the organisation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fukuda, Tatuso Living people 1967 births Keio University alumni Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Representatives from Gunma Prefecture 21st-century Japanese politicians