Hiroya Masuda

Hiroya Masuda (増田 寛也, Masuda Hiroya, born 20 December 1951) is a Japanese politician who was Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications from August 2007 to September 2008.

Hiroya Masuda
増田 寛也
Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
In office 27 August 2007 – 24 September 2008
Prime Minister	Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by	Yoshihide Suga
Succeeded by	Kunio Hatoyama
Governor of Iwate Prefecture
In office 30 April 1995 – 30 April 2007
Preceded by	Iwao kudo
Succeeded by	Takuya Tasso
Personal details
Born	(1951-12-20) 20 December 1951 Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Alma mater	University of Tokyo

Career

With members of the Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet (26 September 2007)

With Yasuo Fukuda and Ministers of State (19 October 2007)

A native of Tokyo, he graduated from the University of Tokyo and served as governor of Iwate Prefecture from 1995 to 2007. While serving as Iwate's governor, Masuda developed a reputation as a reformist by cutting spending through personnel cuts and took the initiative in introducing an industrial waste tax system. Masuda was reappointed as Minister of Internal Affairs when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda reshuffled the cabinet on August 1, 2008.[1] In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on September 24, 2008, Masuda was replaced by Kunio Hatoyama.[2]

Masuda wrote a 2013 article in Chuo Koron magazine arguing that growth in Tokyo was leading to population decay in other regions of Japan, further describing Tokyo as a "population black hole" due to the difficulty of raising children there.[3] Political and corporate leaders in Japan were jolted by the conclusions of a 2014 book by Masuda called Local Extinctions, a detailed report of population changes that used the latest official figures from the National Institution of Population and Social Security Research to show that 896 cities, towns and villages throughout Japan were facing extinction by 2040. At first glance, the book simply repeated what earlier reports had concluded; however, it also included the percentages by which child-bearing women between the ages of 20 and 40 were expected to decline in each and every city, town and village.[4]

Masuda was approached in 2016 by twenty-one of the twenty-three Tokyo ward mayors to run for Governor of Tokyo in the July 2016 election.[5] The Tokyo branch of the Liberal Democratic Party threw its official support behind Masuda, warning members that they would be reprimanded if they supported rival Yuriko Koike (also an LDP member).[6]

References

1. Japan Times, "Fukuda's new lineup", 3 August 2008, Pg. 3.
2. "Aso elected premier / Announces Cabinet lineup himself; poll likely on Nov. 2", The Yomiuri Shimbun, 25 September 2008.
3. "VOX POPULI: Can one-time champion of rural Japan downsize Tokyo?". Asahi Shimbun. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
4. Johnston, Eric (16 May 2015). "Is Japan becoming extinct?" – via Japan Times Online.
5. "Tokyo ward mayors ask Masuda to run". The Japan News. Jiji Press. 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
6. "Discord in Tokyo gov. poll". The Japan News. Yomiuri Shimbun. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)

Political offices
Preceded by Yoshihide Suga	Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan 2007 – 2008	Succeeded by Kunio Hatoyama
Preceded by Yoshihide Suga	Minister of State for Decentralisation Reform, Regional Revitalization, Regional Government of Japan 2007 – 2008	Succeeded by Kunio Hatoyama as Minister of State for Decentralisation Reform
		Office abolished State for Regional Revitalization, Regional Government
Preceded by Iwao Kudō	Governor of Iwate 1995 – 2007	Succeeded by Takuya Tasso