is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese politician.

He was born in Mie Prefecture

Mie Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan which is part of the Kansai regions on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Tsu.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, Mie prefecture was known as Ise Province and Iga Province....

 and obtained an MD from Mie University

Mie University

Mie University is a national university in Tsu, Mie, Japan. As with other 'national' universities, 'Miedai' has been a national university corporation since April 2004, when state-funded universities were partially privatised...

. In 1976, he ran for the House of Representatives as a member of Komeitō, and won a proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

 seat from the Tokai bloc.

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

Morihiro Hosokawa

is a Japanese politician who was the 79th Prime Minister of Japan from August 9, 1993 to April 28, 1994. His coalition was the first non-Liberal Democratic Party government since 1955.- Early life :...

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

New Frontier Party

The was a Japanese political party that existed during the mid-1990s. As a merger of several small parties, the party was ideologically diverse, with its membership ranging from moderate socialists to neoliberals and conservatives...

 (1994), Shintō Heiwa (1997), and New Komeito Party

New Komeito Party

The , New Kōmei Party, or NKP is a centre-right political party in Japan founded by members of the Nichiren Buddhist organization Sōka Gakkai. The leadership and financing of the two groups are currently independent...

 (1999).

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

Yoshiro Mori

is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan starting at 5 April 2000 ending 26 April 2001. Described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark," he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally...

. He retained this position under Junichiro Koizumi

Junichiro Koizumi

is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...

 until September 2004.

Sakaguchi is currently deputy director of Komeito, and is the oldest and longest-serving Komeito member of the House of Representatives.