was a Japanese politician who served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the first Cabinet of

Shinzō 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 ...

, from 2001 to 2007. Omi was born in Numata,

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuku ...

and graduated with a degree in Commerce from

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social science ...

. He joined the

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and ...

and later served as

consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

of Japan in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and as Director of the Small Business Administration. He resigned from the bureaucracy in 1982 to run for office, and was elected to the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

in 1983. Omi was appointed Director of the Economic Planning Agency in 1997 and briefly as a state minister under

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is ...

in 2001. He was on a mission to the United States during the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. He was Minister of Science and Technology 2001–2002, as well as Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs. He was appointed Minister of Finance on 26 September 2006.He was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service by the

University of Cambodia The University of Cambodia (often referred to as UC for short; km, សាកលវិទ្យាល័យកម្ពុជា, ''Sakâlvĭtyéalai Kămpŭchéa'') is a private university located on Northbridge Road in Sen Sok District, Phnom Pe ...

in 2007 and by the

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology The is a private, interdisciplinary graduate school located in Onna, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The school offers a 5-year PhD program in Science. Over half of the faculty and students are recruited from outside Japan, and all education and r ...

in 2018. Omi supported increases in the national

consumption tax A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added tax. However, a consumpti ...

, although Abe distanced himself from this policy and sought to achieve much of his budget balancing through spending cuts.Japan's Abe Unexpectedly Names Omi Finance Minister
Bloomberg.com, 26 September 2006. Omi died on 14 April 2022, at the age of 89.

Later work

Founder and Chairman
Science and Technology in Society Forum

board member from 2014 to 2021.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Omi, Koji 1932 births 2022 deaths 21st-century Japanese politicians Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians People from Gunma Prefecture Hitotsubashi University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Government ministers of Japan Ministers of Finance of Japan Economic planning ministers of Japan Members of the House of Representatives from Gunma Prefecture