is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

. A former Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and former State Minister for Foreign Affairs (

Third Abe Cabinet The Third Abe cabinet governed Japan under the leadership of the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, from December 2014 to November 2017. The government was a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito (which had changed its name from ...

) and former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, he currently serves as a member of 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 ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

(national legislature).

Early life and education

Kihara was born in

Shibuya, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,609 in 142,443 households ...

on 8 June 1970. He lived in

Chicago, United States Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los ...

from when he was nine months old until he turned five. He also lived in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in his youth. He attended Musashi High School and Junior High School and matriculated 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 ...

in 1989, where he studied law.

At the Ministry of Finance

Upon his graduation from university, Kihara joined the

Ministry 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 portfoli ...

in 1993. This coincided with the start of the

Lost Decades The Lost Decades are a lengthy period of economic stagnation in Japan precipitated by the asset price bubble's collapse beginning in 1990. The singular term originally referred to the 1990s, but the 2000s (Lost 20 Years, ) and the 2010s (Lost ...

, a twenty-year period of economic stagnation the country would experience, and he was assigned to a department that dealt with bankrupt securities companies. While working as a civil servant, Kihara studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

for two years and earned a master's degree in 1995. After working in the law and legislation department at the ministry, he returned to England as a liaison officer and worked for

Her Majesty's Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, taxa ...

, the British counterpart of the Ministry of Finance. While in England, he had the chance to get acquainted with

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, who advised him that 'in a democracy, politics performs better than bureaucracy in the long run because of the brilliance and intelligence of all the people in the country'. She also told him, 'politics is the loftiest of human activities because it is entirely about the realisation of one's beliefs', and encouraged him to pursue a political career instead.

Political career

Fumio Kishida arrived in NYC for 2022 UNGA

Kihara resigned from the ministry in August 2005 to stand in the 44th General Election in September that year as an official Liberal Democrat candidate, winning the seat for Tokyo 20th constituency. After serving a four-year term, he lost his seat in the 45th General Election, in which his party's seats fell from 296 to 119, making it the main opposition party. He regained his seat in the 46th General Election in 2012, and has since won the 47th, 48th, and 49th elections, in 2014, 2017, and 2021, respectively. A member of the centre-right

Kōchikai was a leading faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded by bureaucrat-turned-politician Hayato Ikeda in 1957. The faction has produced five prime ministers (Ikeda, Masayoshi Ōhira, Zenkō Suzuki, Kiichi Miyazawa, and Fu ...

faction within the party, Kihara has been one of

Fumio Kishida Fumio Kishida (born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet ...

's closest aides, with Kishida calling him one of the people he trusts most while campaigning for him in 2021. After Kishida came to power in 2021, Kihara was at the centre of policymaking as

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary The is an official in the Japanese government who assists the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Since July 1998 there have always been three Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries at any given time. Role The Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries are customarily ...

. He was the main promoter of the NISA, which allows individuals residing in Japan to invest up to 3.6 million yen annually without paying capital gains tax. Modelled after the UK's ISA system, the tax arrangement has been used by 23.2 million people as of April 2024. In an interview with ''

The Nikkei ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tokyo ...

'', Kihara stated that he found it problematic that the gross financial assets of Japanese households had increased by only 40% compared to 240% in the United States over the past two decades. The main aim of the policy, he said, was to make it easier for households to benefit from corporate profit growth. Kihara was replaced in September 2023. In November 2024 he was appointed chairman of the LDP Election Strategy Committee, to replace Shinjiro Koizumi, who resigned after the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

References

External links

* in Japanese. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kihara, Seiji 1970 births Living people Politicians from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Koizumi Children Members of Nippon Kaigi Members of the House of Representatives from Tokyo Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2005–2009 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2012–2014 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2014–2017 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2017–2021 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2021–2024 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2024–