is a Japanese politician who served four terms in the

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

and was

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 1 October to 26 December 2012.

Early life and education

Jojima was born in

Yanagawa, Fukuoka file:Yanagawa City Hall 2021.JPG, 270px, Yanagawa City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 62,268 in 26426 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. ...

, on 1 January 1947. He is a graduate of Faculty of Agriculture at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. He received a bachelor's degree in

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

in March 1970.

Career

Jojima is the former head of

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, cooking oils, frozen food Freezing food Food preservation, preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farm ...

Workers' Union where he served for about 25 years and also, of Japan Food Industry Workers' Union Council. He then served as a council member of the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development. He is a veteran lawmaker. He was first elected to the

in 1996 as the number one candidate for the New Frontier Party in the multi-member

Tokyo proportional representation block The Tōkyō proportional representation block (), or more formally the proportional representation tier , is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) "blocks", multi-member constituencies for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Jap ...

. Following the dissolution of the New Frontier Party in 1997, Jojima became one of the founding members of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in 1998. At the 2000 general election he unsuccessfully contested the Tokyo 13th district but retained his seat in the PR block as the DPJ's #2 candidate. In the next election in 2003, he won the Tokyo 13th district, defeating incumbent

Ichirō Kamoshita is a Japanese politician and doctor, who served as Minister of the Environment in Yasuo Fukuda's cabinet. Born in Adachi, Tokyo, he graduated from Nihon University, earning a medical degree. In 1993, he was elected for the first time as a memb ...

by 2,023 votes. In the 2005 election, Kamoshita regained the seat, defeating Jojima by more than 49,000 votes. This heavy defeat also meant that Jojima was unable to retain a seat in the Diet via the proportional representation block. Jojima returned to the Diet in the 2009 general election, this time contesting the

Kanagawa 10th district is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in Kanagawa Prefecture and consists of Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kawasaki and Sa ...

. Whilst in the Diet, Jojima served as the parliament affairs chief of the DPJ. He was also a member of committee on fundamental national policies. He was appointed finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle on 1 October 2012, replacing Jun Azumi in the post. It was his first cabinet post. Jojima served in the cabinet led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Yoshihiko Noda is a Japanese politician. He is the current leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2000. From 2011 to 2012, he was the Prime Minister of Japan. Noda entered po ...

until 26 December 2012, and he was replaced by

Tarō Asō is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2021. He was the longest-serving De ...

as finance minister. At the December 2012

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, Jojima suffered a defeat at the hands of

Kazunori Tanaka is a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and Minister of Reconstruction. A native of Toyoura District, Yamaguchi and graduate of Hosei Universi ...

, losing by more than 43,000 votes and failing to gain a seat via the

Southern Kanto proportional representation block The Southern Kantō proportional representation block () is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) "blocks", multi-member constituencies for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of Southern parts of the Kantō re ...

Views

Jojima is known to be a supporter of strong

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

in a society, and he does not endorse excessive

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

Personal life

His real name is Masamitsu. But, he changed his name as "Koriki" after losing in the 2005 House of Representatives election to make a new start.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jojima, Koriki 1947 births Democratic Party of Japan politicians Government ministers of Japan Living people Ministers of finance of Japan New Frontier Party (Japan) politicians Noda cabinet People from Yanagawa, Fukuoka Politicians from Fukuoka Prefecture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology alumni University of Tokyo alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2009–2012