was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

most notable for serving as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the first Cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

Personal life

Kōji Omi was born in Numata,

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, 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 . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

on 14 December 1932. He attended

Hitotsubashi University , formerly known as , is a national university, national research university in Tokyo, Japan. Often regarded as Japan’s foremost institution for the study of the social sciences, particularly commerce, economics, law, political science, sociolog ...

, where he graduated with a degree in

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

. He died on 14 April 2022, at the age of 89.

Political career

Omi started his career in the

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a Ministry (government department), 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 industri ...

where he later served as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

general of Japan in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and as the Director of the Small Business Administration. He was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

of the

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

in 1983. In 1997, Omi was appointed as the Director of the Economic Planning Agency. He briefly acted as a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Science and Technology Policy and Minister of State for

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

and Northern Territories Affairs under Prime Minister

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...

between 2001 and 2002. He was on a

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during the

11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Between 2006 and 2007, he served as the Minister of Finance under Shinzō Abe. 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 (economics), consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added ta ...

, 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. He was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service by the

University of Cambodia The University of Cambodia (UC; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ) is a private university located on North bridge Road in Sen Sok District, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia. Foun ...

in 2007 and was awarded the first

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in 2018.

Other work

* Founder and Chairman, Science and Technology in Society Forum, 2004. * Board member, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, 2014 to 2021.

References