is a prominent

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 ...

ese politician who, until 2009, represented Democratic Party of Japan as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). Iwakuni was born in Osaka and graduated from the University of Tokyo. He worked at Nikko Securities from 1959 to 1977, heading its offices in London, Paris and Beirut, and then at Morgan Stanley from 1977 to 1984. In 1984 he became the CEO of

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

Japan, and in 1987 was promoted to a senior executive position at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in the US. In 1989, Iwakuni left Merrill Lynch to become mayor of

Izumo, Shimane is a city in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. Izumo is known for noodles and the Izumo-taisha Shinto shrine. History Izumo Taisha is the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan. In 2008, the holy area was open to the public from 1 August until August 17, aft ...

. After running unsuccessfully for the governorship of Tokyo in 1995, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1996. He served as the Director-General of the International Department of the Democratic Party of Japan until 2009, when he decided to step down from politics. He has also served as vice president of the DPJ. Iwakuni now serves as Senior Adviser to GR Japan, a government relations consultancy, and teaches at several universities in Japan, Korea, and the U.S. In 2010 he was appointed as a policy advisor to the Liberal Democratic Party.

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese 1936 births Living people People from Osaka People from Shimane Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni University of Virginia faculty Japanese businesspeople Merrill (company) people Mayors of places in Japan Tokyo gubernatorial candidates Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Democratic Party of Japan politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians {{Japan-mayor-stub