is the current governor of Kumamoto Prefecture

Kumamoto Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyushu Island. The capital is the city of Kumamoto.- History :Historically the area was called Higo Province; and the province was renamed Kumamoto during the Meiji Restoration. The creation of prefectures was part of the abolition of the feudal system...

. He has been governor since 2008.

Ikuo Kabashima received a bachelor's and master's degrees in Animal Science and Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1979.

Ikuo was an associate professor at the Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences of the University of Tsukuba

University of Tsukuba

is located in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The University has 28 college clusters and schools with a total of around 15,000 students...

 from 1986 to 1991. He became a professor in 1991 and in 1996 was named Dean of the Graduate School of International Political Economy. In 1997 he became a Professor of Law at the 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...

.