Date of birth: May 5, 1960

Party: LDP

Electoral district: Lower House; Miyagi No. 6 (fifth term)

Since entering the Lower House in 1997, Onodera has mostly specialized in diplomacy.

He was appointed senior vice minister for foreign affairs in 2007 when Shinzo Abe reshuffled his Cabinet, and parliamentary secretary for foreign ministry in 2004 under Junichiro Koizumi.

In 2000, he resigned from the Diet after breaking the election law by handing out boxes of incense to voters in his constituency.

Born in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Onodera graduated from Tokyo University of Fisheries in 1983 after majoring in marine environmental science and technology.

He entered the Miyagi Prefectural Government in 1983 before entering Matsushita Institute of Government and Management in 1990, while studying politics at the University of Tokyo. He graduated from both and earned his master's degree in political science in 1993.