Masahiko Kōmura Explained

Masahiko Kōmura
Native Name Lang:ja
Order:Minister for Foreign Affairs
Term Start:26 September 2007
Term End:24 September 2008
Primeminister:Yasuo Fukuda
Predecessor:Nobutaka Machimura
Successor:Hirofumi Nakasone
Term Start1:30 July 1998
Term End1:5 October 1999
Primeminister1:Keizō Obuchi
Predecessor1:Keizō Obuchi
Successor1:Yōhei Kōno
Order2:Minister of Defense
Term Start2:27 August 2007
Term End2:26 September 2007
Primeminister2:Shinzō Abe
Predecessor2:Yuriko Koike
Successor2:Shigeru Ishiba
Order3:Minister of Justice
Term Start3:5 December 2000
Term End3:26 April 2001
Primeminister3:Yoshirō Mori
Predecessor3:Okiharu Yasuoka
Successor3:Hirofumi Nakasone
Order4:Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency
Primeminister4:Tomiichi Murayama
Predecessor4:Yoshio Terazawa
Successor4:Isamu Miyazaki
Term Start4:30 June 1994
Term End4:8 August 1995
Birth Date:15 March 1942
Birth Place:Shūnan, Yamaguchi, Japan
Alma Mater:Chuo University
Party:Liberal Democratic Party

is a Japanese political activist, full-time staff and former Vice-President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2007 to 2008, and he is a member of the House of Representatives for Yamaguchi 1st district. He is also the current Deputy President of his political party the Liberal Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Kōmura was born in Ehime Prefecture on 15 March 1942.[1] He graduated from Chuo University's faculty of law.[2]

Career

After graduation, Kōmura passed Japan's bar exam and then immediately entered politics. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in the June 1980 election, and has been re-elected in each election since then. He became Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency (as a Minister of State) in June 1994, Minister for Foreign Affairs in July 1998, and Minister of Justice in December 2000. In August 2007, under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, he became Minister of Defense.[3] Kōmura leads a small faction of the LDP named after himself and ran for LDP president in 2003, but was defeated by Junichirō Koizumi.[4]

Following Abe's resignation in September 2007, Kōmura became Minister for Foreign Affairs for a second time on 26 September 2007, in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.[5] He remained in that post until he was replaced by Hirofumi Nakasone in the Cabinet of Tarō Asō, appointed on 24 September 2008.[6] He is vice president of the LDP.[7]

Kōmura is also the President of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union. He is known to have strong ties within China's political circles.[4]

Bibliography

Books

Notes and References

  1. Web site: LDP members. LDP. 12 January 2013.
  2. Web site: Profiles for Key LDP Officials. LDP. 12 January 2013.
  3. http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/hq/profile/koumura.html "Profile of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko KOUMURA"
  4. Japan Times, "Fukuda's new linuep", 3 August 2008, P. 3.
  5. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070926TDY01002.htm "Fukuda Cabinet launched / Changes minimized to reduce impact on Diet business"
  6. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080925TDY01303.htm "Aso elected premier / Announces Cabinet lineup himself; poll likely on Nov. 2"
  7. News: LDP Vice Pres. Komura to retain post. 12 January 2013. House of Japan. 20 December 2012. https://archive.today/20130216055240/http://www.houseofjapan.com/local/ldp-vice-pres-komura-to-retain-post. 16 February 2013. dead.