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Okiharu Yasuoka

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Okiharu Yasuoka
保岡 興治
Official portrait, 2007
Minister of Justice
In office
2 August 2008 – 24 September 2008
Prime MinisterYasuo Fukuda
Preceded byKunio Hatoyama
Succeeded byEisuke Mori
In office
4 July 2000 – 5 December 2000
Prime MinisterYoshirō Mori
Preceded byHideo Usui
Succeeded byMasahiko Kōmura
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
19 December 2012 – 28 September 2017
Preceded byHiroshi Kawauchi
Succeeded byHiroshi Kawauchi
ConstituencyKagoshima 1st
In office
19 July 1993 – 21 July 2009
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byHiroshi Kawauchi
ConstituencyFormer Kagoshima 1st (1993–1996)
Kagoshima 1st (1996–2009)
In office
11 December 1972 – 24 January 1990
Preceded byEikō Yutaka
Succeeded byTorao Tokuda
ConstituencyAmami Islands
Personal details
Born(1939-05-11)11 May 1939
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Died19 April 2019(2019-04-19) (aged 79)
Tokyo, Japan
Political partyLDP (1976–1994; 1995–2019)
Other political
affiliations
Independent (1972–1976)
NFP (1994–1995)
Alma materChuo University

Okiharu Yasuoka (保岡 興治, Yasuoka Okiharu, 11 May 1939 – 19 April 2019) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kagoshima Prefecture and graduate of Chuo University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1972 as an independent. He later joined the LDP and served as the Minister of Justice from 2000 to 2001. He was later returned to the post of Minister of Justice under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on 1 August 2008.[1]

Yasuoka was a licensed attorney. He left the LDP in 1994 to join the now-defunct Shinshinto party, but returned to the LDP in 1995. Yasuoka is known to have worked himself and his staff very long hours. He was one of the key participants in the launch of Fukuda's administration in 2007. Yasuoka also chaired the LDP's Constitution Research Commission.[2]

An avid jogger and swimmer, Yasuoka repeatedly swam the 2.1 km-wide Kinko Bay in Kagoshima Prefecture.[2]

Yasuoka in 2017

In October 2017, Yasuoka retired after doctors discovered his cancer. Yasuoka's son ran, but lost to Hiroshi Kawauchi of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.[3]

Yasuoka died of cancer on 19 April 2019 at a Tokyo hospital, at the age of 79.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Fukuda overhauls Cabinet / LDP executive shakeup also elevates Aso to party No. 2". The Yomiuri Shimbun. 2 August 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Fukuda's new lineup". Japan Times. 3 August 2008. p. 3.
  3. ^ 立民川内氏返り咲き 鹿児島1区 自民は火種残す [CDP's Kawauchi returns to power in Kagoshima 1st district, LDP leaves sparks burning] (in Japanese). Nishinippon Shimbun. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Former Japanese Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka dies at 79". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
[edit]
House of Representatives (Japan)
Preceded by Chair, Lower House Committee on Construction
1984–1986
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair, Lower House Special Committee on Political Ethics and Election Law
2012–2014
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Justice of Japan
2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Justice of Japan
2008
Succeeded by