Jirō Kawasaki

Jirō Kawasaki (川崎 二郎, Kawasaki Jirō, born November 15, 1947) is a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Jirō Kawasaki
川崎 二郎
Official portrait, 1998
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare
In office 31 October 2005 – 26 September 2006
Prime Minister	Junichiro Koizumi
Preceded by	Hidehisa Otsuji
Succeeded by	Hakuo Yanagisawa
Director-General of the Hokkaido Development Agency
In office 14 January 1999 – 5 October 1999
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Kichio Inoue
Succeeded by	Toshihiro Nikai
Minister of Transport
In office 30 July 1998 – 5 October 1999
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Takao Fujii
Succeeded by	Toshihiro Nikai
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 8 July 1986 – 14 October 2021
Constituency	Tōkai PR (1986–2000; 2009–2012; 2017–2021) Mie 1st (2000–2009; 2012–2017)
In office 22 June 1980 – 28 November 1983
Constituency	Former Mie 1st
Personal details
Born	(1947-11-15) 15 November 1947 (age 77) Iga, Mie, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic
Alma mater	Keio University

Third Realigned Koizumi Cabinet
(2005-10-31)

Secretary	Shinzō Abe
Internal Affairs	Heizō Takenaka
Justice	Seiken Sugiura
Foreign Affairs	Taro Aso
Finance	Sadakazu Tanigaki
Education	Kenji Kosaka
Health	Jirō Kawasaki
Agriculture	Shoichi Nakagawa
Economy	Toshihiro Nikai
Land	Kazuo Kitagawa
Environment	Yuriko Koike
Defense	Fukushiro Nukaga
Ministers of State	Tetsuo Kutsukake Kaoru Yosano Koki Chuma Iwao Matsuda Kuniko Inoguchi

Kawasaki was born in Iga, Mie. His father and grandfather were both politicians.

He attended Keio University and graduated with a degree in Commerce. After several years working at Matsushita, Kawasaki won a seat in the House of Representatives, representing Mie Prefecture in 1980.

Kawasaki is a long-time rival of Hiroshi Nakai of the Democratic Party of Japan, and the two have repeatedly challenged each other for seats representing Mie in the Diet.

He served as Minister of Transportation under Keizō Obuchi, and later as Director of the Hokkaido Development Agency. On October 31, 2005, Junichirō Koizumi chose Kawasaki to head the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Quotes

"We must regret having given him (Horie) too much credit." Asahi Shimbun January 25, 2006

“I do not think that Japan should ever become a multi-ethnic society.” The New York Times, April 22, 2009.^[1]