is a Japanese politician who served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

between 1972 and 2012, and as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare from 2001 to 2004.

Early life

He was born in

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture ...

and obtained an MD from

Mie University Mie University (三重大学; ''Mie Daigaku'', abbreviated to 三重大 ''Miedai'') is a national university in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, Japan. As with other national universities, Mie University has been a National University Corporation since Apr ...

. After qualifying as a physician, he worked at the Mie Red Cross Blood Center.

Political career

He first ran for the

as a member of Komeitō in the 1972 general election, and won a seat representing

. Sakaguchi was Minister of Labor in the 1993-94 coalition cabinet led by

Morihiro Hosokawa is a Japanese politician and noble who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994, leading a coalition government which was the first non- Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government of Japan since 1955. After a funding scandal in early 1994, ...

. After the coalition government collapsed, he was the second-ranking officer of three other political parties, New Frontier Party (1994),

Shintō Heiwa Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

(1997), and

New Komeito Party , formerly New Komeito and abbreviated NKP, is a conservative political party in Japan founded by lay members of the Buddhist Japanese new religious movement Soka Gakkai in 1964. Since 2012, it has served in government as the junior coaliti ...

(1999).

Mori and Koizumi Cabinet positions

In December 2000, he was appointed Minister of Health and Welfare and Minister of Labor in the LDP-Liberal-Komeito coalition cabinet of

Yoshirō Mori is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between April 2000 and April 2001. He was unpopular in opinion polls during his time in office, and is known for making controversial statements, both during and after his ...

. The ministries merged in 2001, making Sakaguchi the first individual to hold the combined position of Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. He retained this position under

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 200 ...

until September 2004. As Health and Welfare Minister, Sakaguchi delivered an apology to

Hansen's disease Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juic ...

patients who were subjected to forced sterilization under the former Japanese eugenics protection law. He later advocated in the Diet for compensating the victims of these practices, and described them as "an egregious violation of human rights." Following Japan's first BSE outbreak in 2001, Sakaguchi introduced testing of all slaughtered cattle in Japan, which continued through the last year of his tenure. He also dealt with record unemployment rates, and oversaw the implementation of reforms to the employment insurance and pension system. He was described by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training as "one of the busiest of all the ministers" during this time.

Retirement

Sakaguchi retired from the House of Representatives prior to the 2012 general election due to a party rule that forbade support for candidates over the age of 66. He thereafter became a special advisor to the New Komeito Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakaguchi, Chikara 1934 births Living people Politicians from Mie Prefecture Ministers of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan 20th-century Japanese physicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Komeito politicians New Komeito politicians New Frontier Party (Japan) politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians