Date of birth: Aug. 6, 1959

Party: DPJ

Electoral district: Lower House; Osaka No. 12 (fifth term)

This is Tarutoko's first ministerial post. The DPJ's former deputy secretary general played an active role as the right-hand man of Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi, who is an Upper House member, in negotiating with opposition parties during the last Diet session.

Tarukoto was little known outside the party until 2010, when he lost out to Naoto Kan in the DPJ presidential race despite garnering a respectable 129 votes.

He entered politics through the now-defunct Japan New Party in 1993 and later joined Shinshinto (New Frontier Party), eventually becoming a DPJ member after Shinshinto was dissolved in 1997.

He is a graduate of Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, and his peers include former Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa.