was the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare

Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)

The , or , is the Cabinet of Japan member in charge of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. As of 2 September 2011, the current minister is Yoko Komiyama.-References:...

 in the Cabinet of 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...

.

Upbringing

He was born in Kaseda City in Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

. His father was killed in World War II in fighting near the Solomon Islands.

Otsuji briefly attended the National Defense Academy but dropped out in 1961 after his mother died. He later attended the prestigious University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

, but again dropped out.

World travels

From his own account, Otsuji was unhappy with university education. Reflecting on his youth as en elderly politician, he noted the social unrest at the time and protests against the government of Prime Minister Kishi, and said that lectures were rarely held and there was no worthwhile education to be had. Instead, he took the time to travel the world and visited close to 80 countries over a period of five years. In 1971 he returned to Japan and officially withdrew from Tokyo University and returned to Kagoshima.

Political career

He was elected to the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly in 1979. He was defeated in his run for the House of Representatives in 1986 but was elected to the House of Councillors

House of Councillors

The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...

 in 1989.

He served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Management and Coordination in 1992 and became Vice Minister for Okinawa Development in 1994. He was selected to served as Vice Minister of Financial Affairs in 2003 in the cabinet of Prime Minister 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...

 and became the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare

Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)

The , or , is the Cabinet of Japan member in charge of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. As of 2 September 2011, the current minister is Yoko Komiyama.-References:...

 in 2004.

Otsuji is also the author of several books, including "Africa Travel Diary" and "Going to Bokemon World." "Bokemon" is a word from the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese meaning "recklessly strong."

External links

• http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/koizumidaijin/040927/07otsuji_e.html
• http://www.otsuji.gr.jp/bokke.htm (Japanese)