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Hatoyama Cabinet (Formed September 16, 2009)
FOREIGN MINISTER
Katsuya Okada
Date of birth: July 14, 1953
Party: DPJ
Electoral district: Lower House; Mie No. 3 (seventh term)
A former bureaucrat in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry who studied at Harvard University, Okada was first elected to the Lower House at age 36 as an LDP member.
His father is a founder of the Aeon major retail service group and his elder brother is the current CEO.
Okada bolted from the LDP in 1993 and joined the DPJ in 1998. He was appointed head of the DPJ in 2004 and led the party to victory in the Upper House election later that year.
However, he resigned after the party suffered a major defeat in the 2005 Lower House election.
Okada is chairman of a legislators’group trying to give foreign permanent residents the right to vote in local elections.
His hobbies include exercising at the gym and collecting frog ornaments.
Cabinet Interview (Friday, Sept. 18, 2009) — Okada plays cards close to vest
Subsequent changes
- Sep. 16, 09
- Jan. 7, 10
- Feb. 10, 10
- May. 28, 10
