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Toshio Yamaguchi

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Toshio Yamaguchi
山口 敏夫
Minister of Labor
In office
1 November 1984 – 28 December 1985
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded byMisoji Sakamoto
Succeeded byYu Hayashi
Member of the House of Representatives
for Saitama 2nd district
In office
30 January 1967 – 27 September 1996
Personal details
Born (1940-08-29) 29 August 1940 (age 84)
Higashimatsuyama, Saitama, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party (Before 1976)
New Liberal Club (1976–86)
Liberal Democratic Party (1986–93)
New Frontier Party (1994–95)
People's Sovereignty Party (2016)
Alma materMeiji University

Toshio Yamaguchi (山口 敏夫, Yamaguchi Toshio, born 29 August 1940) is a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Labor and as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan.

Yamaguchi was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 1967 general election and served ten consecutive terms in the Diet, holding his seat until the 1996 general election. He served as labor minister from 1984 to 1985 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.[1] During his time in the Diet, he frequently appeared in the media and was dubbed the "Ushiwakamaru of politics."[2]

In 1994, Yamaguchi persuaded the heads of Tokyo Kyowa Credit Association and Anzen Credit Bank to arrange illegal loans for companies controlled by Yamaguchi and his family.[1] He was arrested in December 1995 and held in prison for a year pending trial.[3] In 1996, he was found guilty of breach of trust, embezzlement, fraud and perjury, and sentenced to four years in prison. He appealed the verdict to the Tokyo High Court, and told reporters in 2002 that he was considering a return to office in 2004; his appeal was rejected in February 2003.[1] He was taken to prison in March 2007 to serve the remaining 3.5 years of his term.[3]

Following his release, in 2015, Yamaguchi distributed pamphlets to members of the Diet calling for former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to resign as head of the 2020 Summer Olympics organizing committee, causing a stir in the political world as Yamaguchi and Mori had been acquaintances since Mori was still a student.[4]

At the age of 75, Yamaguchi entered the 2016 Tokyo gubernatorial election as a candidate of the People's Sovereignty Party (国民主権の会, Kokumin Shuken no Kai).[5][2] He placed eleventh out of twenty-one candidates.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Yamaguchi fraud appeal rejected". The Japan Times. 26 February 2003. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b "山口敏夫氏「東京オリンピックが都民生活を脅かしている」 あの元首相をバッサリ". Sankei News. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Prosecutors drive ex-labor minister to penitentiary". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  4. ^ "山口敏夫氏が全議員に配布「森喜朗は辞めろ」檄文の中身". Nikkan Gendai. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  5. ^ "平成28年7月31日執行東京都知事選挙 立候補者一覧" (PDF). 東京都選挙管理委員会. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by
Misoji Sakamoto
Minister of Labour
1984–1985
Succeeded by
Yu Hayashi
House of Representatives (Japan)
Preceded by
Ishimatsu Kitagawa
Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of Japan
1986–1987
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair, Rules and Administration Committee of the House of Representatives of Japan
1988–1989
Succeeded by
Hikosaburo Okonogi
Party political offices
Preceded by
Party established
Chair, Diet Affairs Committee of the New Liberal Club
1976–1979
Succeeded by
Kentaro Ishihara
Preceded by Secretary General of the New Liberal Club
1980–1986
Succeeded by
Party dissolved
Honorary titles
Preceded by Youngest member of the House of Representatives of Japan
1967–1969
Succeeded by