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 ...

who currently serves as

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

since November 2021. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he also serves in 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 Yamaguchi 3rd district since 2021.

Early life

A native of

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsushim ...

, Hayashi is the son of late politician Yoshiro Hayashi. He graduated from the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and studied at the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

In the United States, he was a staffer for U.S. Representative

Stephen L. Neal Stephen Lybrook Neal (born November 7, 1934) is a former North Carolina Democratic politician who served ten terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1975–1995). Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Neal moved to California, graduated ...

and U.S. Senator

William V. Roth, Jr. William Victor Roth Jr. (July 22, 1921 – December 13, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party. He served from 1967 to 1970 as the lone U. ...

He began his career with Mitsui & Co. Hayashi entered politics as a secretary to his father, Finance Minister Yoshiro Hayashi, in 1992. Around the same time, he was also the member of the policy staff for a US senator. Hayashi was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1995. He represents the fourth generation of politicians in his family and has concentrated on administrative and tax reform since taking office.''Japan Times'', "Fukuda's new lineup", 3 August 2008. He is the great-grandson of Akira Tawarada, the founder of Ube Industries in 1942. This company made extensive use of American and Allied POW slave labor in three of their coal mines in Yamaguchi prefecture. Hayashi was appointed to the Cabinet for the first time as Minister of Defense on 1 August 2008. He held this post for less than two months, however; in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008, Hayashi was replaced by

Yasukazu Hamada is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Minister of Defense of Japan since August 2022, previously serving from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he also serves in the House of Representatives, having taken ...

. After the LDP returned to power in the December 2012 general election Hayashi was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. On 6 November 2021, his appointment as the

in the

Second Kishida Cabinet The Second Kishida Cabinet is the 101st Cabinet of Japan and was formed by Fumio Kishida, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Japan. The government is a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito a ...

was announced. Hayashi was the first Japanese top diplomat to attend a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

foreign ministers meeting in Brussels in April 2022.

Personal life

He likes karaoke and golf. He plays the guitar and keyboard with LDP colleagues in a band called .

References

External links

* in Japanese. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayashi, Yoshimasa 1961 births Living people Foreign ministers of Japan Japanese defense ministers Harvard Kennedy School alumni Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Ministers of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan Mitsui & Co. People from Shimonoseki United States congressional aides University of Tokyo alumni Education ministers of Japan Culture ministers of Japan Science ministers of Japan Sports ministers of Japan Technology ministers of Japan