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 ...

of the Liberal Democratic Party, 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). A native of

Makabe District, Ibaraki was a district located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of the Chikusei merger, but with 2003 population data, the district had an estimated population of 26,699 and a density of 288 persons per km2. The total area was 92.62 km2. Towns and ...

and graduate of 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 ...

, he worked at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may refer to: * Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Cambodia) * Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) * Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Niue) * Depar ...

from 1983 to 1988. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990. Akagi took office as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries after the suicide of his predecessor,

Toshikatsu Matsuoka was a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2006 until his suicide in 2007 amid a financial scandal. Early life and education He was born in Aso, Kumamoto, Kyūshū on 25 February 1945. Hi ...

, in May 2007. Not even two months after being inaugurated, Akagi found himself indicted in a political funding

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

not entirely different from the one his predecessor had been embroiled in - he was alleged to have registered multi-million yen expenditures on an office which did not exist. Akagi was asked to make receipts official but refused. On July 17, he appeared at a press conference with two adhesive plasters on his face, puzzling reporters but still refusing to make receipts official.Plastered Farm Minister still refuses to make receipts official
Japan News Review July 17, 2007 Akagi resigned as Minister on August 1, 2007, after the upper house election.

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

Masatoshi Wakabayashi is a Japanese politician who is a member of Liberal Democratic Party. Career Wakabayashi became the third Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries appointed in Shinzō Abe's first cabinet after Toshikatsu Matsuoka killed himself as ...

, became concurrent Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and stayed until August 27, 2007, when

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 ...

announced a new cabinet. Akagi's virtual successor was

Takehiko Endo was a Japanese politician who was a member of Liberal Democratic Party, serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. On September 3, 2007, due to the financial scandal, he resigned as Minister of Agriculture just eight days a ...

appointed on August 27.

References

External links

* in Japanese. Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) University of Tokyo alumni Living people 1959 births Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians {{Japan-politician-1950s-stub