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 ...

from the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, and 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) from 1986 to 2017. A native of Ōmihachiman, Shiga, he attended

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

and received a master's degree from it. His elder brother is former mayor of Omihachiman Gohei Kawabata. In September 2011 he was appointed as

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...

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 K ...

.''

Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'',
Cabinet Profiles: Noda Cabinet
, 3 September 2011, p. 3. He was relieved from the post on 1 October 2012. In September 2017, Kawabata announced that he would not run in the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

and would retire from politics.

Life

Born in Gamo-gun, Shiga prefecture (now Omihachiman city ). The birthplace ran a pharmacy . Graduated from Shiga Prefectural Hikone East High School, Kyoto University Faculty of Engineering. Joined Toray after completing a master's program at the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University. Besides being involved in development research, he also worked on the trade union movement.

Notes and references

External links

Official website
in Japanese. , - , - , - , - , - , - , - 1945 births Living people 21st-century Japanese politicians Culture ministers of Japan Democratic Party of Japan politicians Education ministers of Japan Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Ministers of Internal Affairs of Japan Noda cabinet Science ministers of Japan Sports ministers of Japan Technology ministers of Japan {{Japan-politician-1940s-stub