Sadakazu Tanigaki

Sadakazu Tanigaki 谷垣 禎一
Minister of Finance of Japan
In office September 22, 2003 – September 26, 2006
Preceded by	Masajūrō Shiokawa
Succeeded by	Kōji Omi
Member of the Japanese House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office October 20, 1996
Preceded by	New constituencies
Constituency	5th Kyoto District
Personal details
Born	March 7, 1945 (1945-03-07) Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Citizenship	Japanese
Nationality	Japanese
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Keiko Tanigaki (died 2011)
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Tokyo

Third Realigned Koizumi Cabinet
(2005-10-31)

Secretary	Shinzo Abe
Internal Affairs	Heizō Takenaka
Justice	Seiken Sugiura
Foreign Affairs	Taro Aso
Finance	Sadakazu Tanigaki
Education	Kenji Kosaka
Health	Jirō Kawasaki
Agriculture	Shoichi Nakagawa
Economy	Toshihiro Nikai
Land	Kazuo Kitagawa
Environment	Yuriko Koike
Defense	Fukushiro Nukaga
Ministers of State	Tetsuo Kutsukake, Kaoru Yosano, Koki Chuma, Iwao Matsuda, Kuniko Inoguchi

Sadakazu Tanigaki (谷垣 禎一, Tanigaki Sadakazu, born March 7, 1945) is a conservative Japanese politician who served as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006, in the cabinet of Jun'ichirō Koizumi. He also served as Minister of Construction and Transport in the cabinet of Yasuo Fukuda and is serving his ninth term as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Kyoto's Fifth District. He was elected as President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on September 28, 2009, following the party's massive defeat in the 2009 general election. He is only the second LDP leader who is not simultaneously Prime Minister of Japan.

Early life

Tanigaki was born in Fukuchiyama and attended Azabu High School. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in 1974, and worked as a secretary for his father, who was Minister of Education. He went on to pass the Japanese bar examination in 1979, specializing in tax law, and he registered as an attorney in 1982 after completing his legal training.

Political career

Tanigaki was prepared for a legal career after close to ten years of study, but his father, who represented the second district in Kyoto, died in 1983. Tanigaki moved to Kyoto to run for his father's seat.

He briefly headed the Science and Technology Agency in 1997. Under Prime Minister Koizumi, he served in a number of positions, including the Financial Reconstruction Commission, the National Public Safety Commission, and ultimately as Minister of Finance from September 22, 2003 to September 26, 2006. Since 2002, Tanigaki has led a minor faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, formerly part of the Kochikai faction, with 11 members in the lower house and 4 in the upper house.

Tanigaki declared his candidacy for the LDP presidency on July 28, 2006, but came in third place in a three-way race against Shinzō Abe and Tarō Asō. Tanigaki was viewed as the "moderate" candidate in the race, mainly due to his foreign policy views: unlike Abe and Asō, he stated that he would not continue visits to Yasukuni Shrine if he became prime minister, which made him a more attractive candidate among LDP leaders who sought better relations with China and Korea.

On September 24, 2007, Tanigaki was named chief policymaker of the LDP by newly-elected party president Yasuo Fukuda. He was subsequently appointed as Minister of Construction and Transport on August 1, 2008.

On September 28, 2009, he was chosen by his party as LDP leader to replace former Prime Minister Tarō Asō.

On October 19th, 2009, he visited the contentious Yasukuni shrine, despite his earlier promise to the contrary. The shrine, namely during the tenure of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has attracted much controversy due to its adoration and honoring of soldiers that fought for the Empire of Japan – many of whom are notorious war criminals. The People's Republic of China and Republic of Korea have frequently reprimanded visits to the place of worship by Japanese statesmen.

Tanigaki in January 2011 pronounced his commitment to avoid multiparty talks on social welfare and tax reform with the opposition. He has also frequently condemned the left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan for advocating for a rise in the sales taxes by 5 percent, in spite of the enormous, problematic federal deficit.

To gain a potential legislative LDP-coalition majority, he attempted an unsuccessful no-confidence motion against Naoto Kan in June 2011.[1], after refusing Kan's earlier offers of a grand coalition.

Personality

Tanigaki sleeps early and arises early. He engages in stretching exercises and goes on long distance bicycle rides on the weekends to relieve stress. Tanigaki also enjoys mountain climbing and wine.

External links

• Sadakazu Tanigaki's official website

Political offices
Preceded by Tetsuzo Fuyushiba	Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan 2008	Succeeded by Nariaki Nakayama
Preceded by Masajuro Shiokawa	Minister of Finance of Japan 2003 - 2006	Succeeded by Koji Omi
New ministerial post	Minister of State for Industrial Revitalization Minister of State for Food Safety 2002–2003	Succeeded by Kazuyoshi Kaneko Kiyoko Ono
Preceded by Jin Murai	Minister of State, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission 2002–2003	Succeeded by Kiyoko Ono
Preceded by Michio Ochi	Minister of State, Chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission 2000	Succeeded by Kimitaka Kuze
Preceded by Riichirō Chikaoka	Minister of State, Head of the Science and Technology Agency 1997–1998	Succeeded by Yutaka Takeyama
Party political offices
Preceded by Taro Aso	President of Liberal Democratic Party 2009-present	Incumbent
Preceded by Nobuteru Ishihara	Policy Affairs Research Council Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party 2007–2008	Succeeded by Kōsuke Hori
Preceded by Sadatoshi Ozato	Chairman of Kōchikai (Tanigaki faction) 2005–2008	merger with Kōchikai (Koga faction)
House of Representatives of Japan
New district	Representative for Kyoto 5th district 1996–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Shigesaburō Maeo Senichi Tanigaki (vacant seats in the 1983 by-election)	Representative for Kyoto 2nd district (multi-member) 1983–1996 Served alongside: Hiromu Nonaka, Iwao Teramae, Ittoku Tamaki, Kiyoshi Nishinaka, several others	District eliminated