Date of birth: Jan. 24, 1942

Party: DPJ

Electoral district: Lower House; Yamagata No. 1 (11th term)

Kano retains his position after being appointed farm minister by Naoto Kan last September and being reappointed to the administration in January.

Born in the city of Yamagata, the Gakushuin University graduate was first elected to the Diet in 1976 on the Liberal Democratic Party ticket. He served as agriculture minister in 1989 and director general of the Management and Coordination Agency in 1992.

Kano left the LDP in 1994 to join Shinshinto. In 1997, he ran for the party presidency.

When the DPJ was formed in 1998, Kano became deputy chief and has since served as Diet affairs chief and chairman of the Constitution research council.

Kano has called for political reform and conducted more than 2,500 street speeches in the past four years.