Yoshihiko Noda
Encyclopedia
is the current Prime Minister of Japan
, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan
(DPJ), and a member of the House of Representatives
(lower house) in the Diet
(national legislature). He was named to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan
as a result of a runoff vote
against Banri Kaieda
in his party, and was formally appointed by the Emperor
on 2 September 2011.
, as a son of a member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
. Unlike many prominent Japanese politicians, Noda has no family connections to Nagatachō. His parents were too poor to pay for a wedding reception.
Noda graduated from Waseda University
in 1980 and was later accepted into the prestigious Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, an institution founded by Panasonic
founder Konosuke Matsushita
that grooms future civic leaders of Japan. While attending the Matsushita Institute, Noda read household gas meters as a part-time job in his native Chiba Prefecture
, partially in order to get to know his future constituents better in preparation for a run for office. He was elected to the assembly of Chiba Prefecture for the first time in 1987 at the age of 29.
. He later joined the DPJ and served as its Diet affairs chief as well as head of the party's public relations office. Noda acted as senior vice finance minister when the DPJ won control of the Diet in September 2009.
In June 2010, Noda was appointed as Minister of Finance
by Prime Minister Naoto Kan
, who was also the previous Minister of Finance. Noda is known as a reformist and has led a DPJ intraparty group critical of ex-DPJ Secretary General Ichirō Ozawa
.
Upon assuming the post of finance minister, Noda, a fiscal conservative, expressed his determination to slash Japan's deficit and rein in gross public debt. In January 2011, for the first time in six years, Noda's finance ministry intervened in the foreign exchange market and spent 2.13 trillion yen to purchase dollars in order to rein in the yen’s spiraling appreciation.
Noda is said to have close relations with the United States, and has said that "China's rapid military buildup pose a serious regional risk, and stressed the importance of the US-Japan security alliance."
After Kan's resignation in August 2011, Noda stood as a candidate in the party election
to replace him. He won the runoff vote against Banri Kaieda
in the leadership election, meaning he would almost certainly become the next prime minister and inherit the challenge of rebuilding from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
. During the party caucus making the leadership decision, Noda made a 15-minute speech in which he summarized his political career by comparing himself to dojo loach, a kind of bottom-feeding fish. Paraphrasing a poem by Mitsuo Aida, he said, "I'll never be a goldfish in a scarlet robe, but like a loach in muddy waters. I'll work hard for the people, to move politics forward." Subsequently, he has been widely dubbed "Prime Minister Loach" in the Japanese media, and his cabinet is called the "Loach Cabinet".
for his position on Japanese class A war criminals as "war criminals". However, Noda supported Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine
. On 15 August 2011—the anniversary of the year for the Surrender of Japan
in World War II, he said that Japan's class A war criminals convicted by the Allies
were not legally war criminals under his view. Since becoming prime minister he has stated that his position on this issue will follow the standard set by previous administrations, and that he does not wish to alter Japan's close relationship with China and Korea.
will be restarted in order to help Japan's immediate demands for energy.
Noda is a fan of martial arts and professional wrestling
. He has a black belt
in judo
.
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Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan
Democratic Party of Japan
The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...
(DPJ), and a member of the House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Japan
The is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,...
(lower house) in the Diet
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
(national legislature). He was named to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan
Naoto Kan
is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...
as a result of a runoff vote
Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election, 2011
The 15th Democratic Party of Japan presidential election took place on August 29, 2011. The election chose Yoshihiko Noda as the successor to Naoto Kan as president of the Democratic Party of Japan; the designation of the new party president as prime minister in the Diet is planned for August 30 –...
against Banri Kaieda
Banri Kaieda
is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan. He was named after , a Japanese translational name for the Great Wall of China, and later began learning the Chinese language after entering Keio University....
in his party, and was formally appointed by the Emperor
Akihito
is the current , the 125th emperor of his line according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989.-Name:In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to . In...
on 2 September 2011.
Early life
Noda was born in Funabashi, ChibaFunabashi, Chiba
is a city located in northwestern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 609,157 and a population density of 7110 persons per km². The total area was 85.64 km². It is the 7th most populous city in Greater Tokyo....
, as a son of a member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the unified military forces of Japan that were established after the end of the post–World War II Allied occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the JSDF was confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed...
. Unlike many prominent Japanese politicians, Noda has no family connections to Nagatachō. His parents were too poor to pay for a wedding reception.
Noda graduated from Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
in 1980 and was later accepted into the prestigious Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, an institution founded by Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
founder Konosuke Matsushita
Konosuke Matsushita
was a Japanese industrialist, the founder of Panasonic, a company based in the suburb of Kadoma , Osaka in Japan. For many Japanese, he is known as "the god of management"...
that grooms future civic leaders of Japan. While attending the Matsushita Institute, Noda read household gas meters as a part-time job in his native Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
, partially in order to get to know his future constituents better in preparation for a run for office. He was elected to the assembly of Chiba Prefecture for the first time in 1987 at the age of 29.
Diet career
In 1993, he was elected to the Diet for first time representing Chiba's Lower House District #4 as a member of the now-defunct Japan New PartyJapan New Party
The Japan New Party was a Japanese political party that existed briefly from 1992 to 1994. It should not be confused with the New Party Nippon founded in 2005....
. He later joined the DPJ and served as its Diet affairs chief as well as head of the party's public relations office. Noda acted as senior vice finance minister when the DPJ won control of the Diet in September 2009.
In June 2010, Noda was appointed as Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Japan)
The is the member of the Cabinet of Japan in charge of the Ministry of Finance. This position was formerly cited as being Japan's most powerful and one of the world's, because Japan had historically held the largest foreign exchange reserves...
by Prime Minister Naoto Kan
Naoto Kan
is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...
, who was also the previous Minister of Finance. Noda is known as a reformist and has led a DPJ intraparty group critical of ex-DPJ Secretary General Ichirō Ozawa
Ichiro Ozawa
is a Japanese politician. Formerly a chief secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party , he later defected from the LDP. He was the president of Japan's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan , from 2006 until May 2009, when he resigned over a fund scandal, and secretary general of the...
.
Upon assuming the post of finance minister, Noda, a fiscal conservative, expressed his determination to slash Japan's deficit and rein in gross public debt. In January 2011, for the first time in six years, Noda's finance ministry intervened in the foreign exchange market and spent 2.13 trillion yen to purchase dollars in order to rein in the yen’s spiraling appreciation.
Noda is said to have close relations with the United States, and has said that "China's rapid military buildup pose a serious regional risk, and stressed the importance of the US-Japan security alliance."
After Kan's resignation in August 2011, Noda stood as a candidate in the party election
Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election, 2011
The 15th Democratic Party of Japan presidential election took place on August 29, 2011. The election chose Yoshihiko Noda as the successor to Naoto Kan as president of the Democratic Party of Japan; the designation of the new party president as prime minister in the Diet is planned for August 30 –...
to replace him. He won the runoff vote against Banri Kaieda
Banri Kaieda
is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan. He was named after , a Japanese translational name for the Great Wall of China, and later began learning the Chinese language after entering Keio University....
in the leadership election, meaning he would almost certainly become the next prime minister and inherit the challenge of rebuilding from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
. During the party caucus making the leadership decision, Noda made a 15-minute speech in which he summarized his political career by comparing himself to dojo loach, a kind of bottom-feeding fish. Paraphrasing a poem by Mitsuo Aida, he said, "I'll never be a goldfish in a scarlet robe, but like a loach in muddy waters. I'll work hard for the people, to move politics forward." Subsequently, he has been widely dubbed "Prime Minister Loach" in the Japanese media, and his cabinet is called the "Loach Cabinet".
Position on war responsibility
In October 2005, Noda criticized Prime Minister Junichiro KoizumiJunichiro Koizumi
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...
for his position on Japanese class A war criminals as "war criminals". However, Noda supported Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of...
. On 15 August 2011—the anniversary of the year for the Surrender of Japan
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
in World War II, he said that Japan's class A war criminals convicted by the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
were not legally war criminals under his view. Since becoming prime minister he has stated that his position on this issue will follow the standard set by previous administrations, and that he does not wish to alter Japan's close relationship with China and Korea.
Prime Minister
In his first speech as Prime Minister on 2 September, Noda confirmed that the Japanese government will continue to phase out nuclear power, by not building new nuclear power plants nor extending the life spans of outdated ones; however, nuclear power plants which are currently sitting idle in the wake of the Fukushima disasterFukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric ,...
will be restarted in order to help Japan's immediate demands for energy.
Personal life
Noda is married with two children.Noda is a fan of martial arts and professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
. He has a black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
.
External links
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