Shizuka Kamei

Shizuka Kamei
Shizuka Kamei
	亀井靜香
Minister of State for Financial Services
	In office; 16 September 2009 – 11 June 2010
Prime Minister	Yukio Hatoyama; Naoto Kan
Preceded by	Kaoru Yosano
Succeeded by	Shōzaburō Jimi
Minister of Construction
	In office; 7 November 1996 – 11 September 1997
Prime Minister	Ryutaro Hashimoto
Preceded by	Eiichi Nakao
Succeeded by	Tsutomu Kawara
Minister of Transport
	In office; 30 June 1994 – 8 August 1995
Prime Minister	Tomiichi Murayama
Preceded by	Nobuaki Futami
Succeeded by	Takeo Hiranuma
Member of the House of Representatives
	In office; 8 October 1979 – 28 September 2017
Succeeded by	Koji Satō
Constituency	Hiroshima-6th (1996–2017); Hiroshima-3rd (1979–1996)
Minister for Postal Reform
	In office; September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010
Personal details
Born	1 November 1936; Shōbara, Hiroshima, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Political party	Independent (2014–2017)
Other political; affiliations	Green Wind (2012–2013, dissolution); TPJ (2012); Genzei Nippon (2012, merger); Independent (2012); PNP (2005–2012); LDP (1979–2005);
Children	5
Alma mater	University of Tokyo
Website	Official website

Shizuka Kamei (亀井静香, Kamei Shizuka, born 1 November 1936) is a former Japanese politician and a former chairman of the Parliamentary League for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.[1][2][3]

Early life

He was born in the city of Shōbara in Hiroshima Prefecture into a poor family. He studied at the department of economics at University of Tokyo and worked his way through school through various jobs, including singing at a cabaret.

Upon graduation in 1960, he entered Sumitomo Seika, and joined the National Police Agency in 1962. In 1972, he took charge of a number of high-profile cases, including the Red Army Asama-Sanso incident, the Narita Airport incident, and the Tel Aviv highjacking. Kamei is one of the few major politicians to oppose the death penalty, and wrote a book, Shikei Haishi ron, asserting his opposition.

Political career

In 1977, he left the agency and received 3.5 million yen in severance pay, which he used to run for the Diet in Hiroshima. He was elected in 1979 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

In 1989, he formed the Freedom Reform Alliance, criticizing the LDP's system of factions and strongly supported Shintarō Ishihara. He became Minister of Transport in 1994 and Minister of Construction in 1996. In 1998, he left the Mitsuzuka faction and formed the "Nakayama-Kamei group" with Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Nakayama.

In 1999, he headed up the LDP's Policy Research Council and founded the Kamei faction. In 2003, he unsuccessfully ran for the position of Prime Minister against the incumbent, Junichiro Koizumi.

He opposed Koizumi's postal privatization plan and left the LDP in 2005, forming the Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) with four other Diet members. Despite facing the popular businessman Takafumi Horie in the 2005 election, he won reelection for the tenth time.

On 16 September 2009, Kamei became the banking and postal services minister in the newly formed Hatoyama cabinet. Throughout the week, he voiced his commitment to providing economic stability for small companies, whom he claimed "had lost vitality".[4] He plans to provide a moratorium of up to three years on loan repayments and attempts to put a brake on what he perceives as excesses by financial and lending institutions.[5]

Kamei decided not to run in the 2017 Japanese general election and therefore lost his seat in the House of Representatives.[6]

Cultural references

He is sometimes humorously referred to as Shizuka-chan (where "chan" is a title usually reserved for young girls) after a female character in the manga Doraemon who shares his personal name.

The character "Takeo Tsuruta" in the manga Akumetsu is based on him.

Scandal

In August 2003, Kamei acknowledged receiving political donations from the leader of a group of loan sharks affiliated to the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan.[7] The donor was Susumu Kajiyama.[8]

Personal life

Kamei is a six-level blackbelt in Aikido and enjoys golf and oil painting. His niece Akiko is a current member of the House of Representatives.

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References

Shizuka Kamei: “Abolition of the Capital Punishment System”.
YouTube.
FCCJchannel (YouTube channel).
Published 6 October 2016.
Retrieved 15 December 2016.
The Capital Punishment Debate in Japan. Nippon.com. Published 16 April 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
The Death Penalty in Japan: The Law of Silence. International Federation for Human Rights. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
Japan Bank Min Kamei:Moratorium Must Be Discussed In Best Way Nasdaq.com, September 17, 2009.
新政権で金融株激震　亀井など閣僚発言が波乱要因 Yahoo! Japan, September 18, 2009.
応援して下さった皆様へ. Shizuka-Kamei official website. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
"Out of the shadows", August 19, 2003, The Independent
(in Japanese)"Shizuka Kamei, political donations from the loan shark king, Susumu Kajiyama" Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, August 15, 2003, Rondan or "Goryo-kai senior who was arrested for underground loaning - donations to Shizuka Kamei", August 17, 2003, Shimbun Akahata

External links

Official website (Japanese)

Political offices
Preceded by Kaoru Yosano	Minister of State for Financial Services 2009–2010	Succeeded by Shōzaburō Jimi
Preceded by Eiichi Nakao	Minister of Construction 1996–1997	Succeeded by Tsutomu Kawara
Preceded by Nobuaki Futami	Minister of Transportation 1994–1995	Succeeded by Takeo Hiranuma
House of Representatives of Japan
New constituency	Representative for Hiroshima's 6th district 1996–2017	Succeeded by Koji Satō
Preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa Masashi Furukawa Kiyoshi Utsumi Moriyoshi Satō Yoshito Fukuoka	Representative for Hiroshima's 3rd district (multi-member) 1979–1996 Served alongside: Kiichi Miyazawa, Masashi Furukawa, Moriyoshi Satō, Masakatsu Okada, Yoshito Fukuoka, Minoru Yanagida, Tatsukuni Komori	District eliminated
Preceded by Motoji Kondo	Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 1990–1991	Succeeded by Ichizo Ōhara
Party political offices
Preceded by Tamisuke Watanuki	President of the People's New Party 2009–2012	Succeeded by Shozaburo Jimi
Preceded by Yukihiko Ikeda	Policy Affairs Research Council Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party 1999–2001	Succeeded by Tarō Asō
Preceded by Takami Etō (Etō-Kamei faction)	Chairman of Shisuikai (Kamei faction) 2003–2005	Succeeded by Bunmei Ibuki (Ibuki faction)
Honorary titles
Preceded by Shintaro Ishihara	Oldest member of the House of Representatives of Japan 2014–2017	Succeeded by Bunmei Ibuki

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[1] Shizuka Kamei: “Abolition of the Capital Punishment System”.
YouTube.
FCCJchannel (YouTube channel).
Published 6 October 2016.
Retrieved 15 December 2016.

[2] The Capital Punishment Debate in Japan. Nippon.com. Published 16 April 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2018.

[3] The Death Penalty in Japan: The Law of Silence. International Federation for Human Rights. Retrieved 13 November 2018.

[4] Japan Bank Min Kamei:Moratorium Must Be Discussed In Best Way Nasdaq.com, September 17, 2009.

[5] 新政権で金融株激震　亀井など閣僚発言が波乱要因 Yahoo! Japan, September 18, 2009.

[6] 応援して下さった皆様へ. Shizuka-Kamei official website. Retrieved 13 November 2018.

[7] "Out of the shadows", August 19, 2003, The Independent

[8] (in Japanese)"Shizuka Kamei, political donations from the loan shark king, Susumu Kajiyama" Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, August 15, 2003, Rondan or "Goryo-kai senior who was arrested for underground loaning - donations to Shizuka Kamei", August 17, 2003, Shimbun Akahata