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. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan

House of Representatives of Japan

The is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,...

, he is Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Japan

Democratic Party of Japan

The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...

 (DPJ) and was previously its President. From September 2009 to September 2010, he was Foreign Minister of Japan

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)

The of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on...

.

Early life and family

Okada is the second son of Takuya Okada, who is a founder of Japanese retail giant AEON Group. His elder brother, Motoya Okada is the President and CEO of AEON Group. He has a younger brother and a half-sister. A native of Yokkaichi, Mie

Yokkaichi, Mie

is a city located in Mie, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 314,393. The total area is 205.53 km².The closest major city is Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture....

, Okada graduated from 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...

 with a degree in law, and entered the Ministry of International Trade and Industry

Ministry of International Trade and Industry

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry was one of the most powerful agencies of the Government of Japan. At the height of its influence, it effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and directing investment...

. He also studied at Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs

Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs

The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs was founded as the Center for International Affairs in 1958 and assumed its current name in 1998 following an endowment by Albert and Celia Weatherhead and the Weatherhead Foundation. The aim of the Center was to confront the worlds problems as...

 in 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...

.

Political career

Okada ran for the House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Japan

The is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,...

 at the 1990 general election from LDP, representing Mie Prefecture's third district, and later joined the Takeshita

Noboru Takeshita

was a Japanese politician and the 74th Prime Minister of Japan from November 6, 1987 to June 3, 1989.Takeshita was also the last Prime Minister during the long rule of the Emperor Shōwa.-Early years:...

 faction of the Liberal Democratic Party

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...

, and followed faction leaders Tsutomu Hata

Tsutomu Hata

is a Japanese politician and was the 80th Prime Minister of Japan for 9 weeks in 1994.He was born in Tokyo, a son of the Liberal Democratic Party Member of Parliament Bushiro Hata. Hata graduated from Seijo University and was employed by the Odakyu bus company from 1958 to 1969...

 and Ichirō Ozawa

Ichiro Ozawa

is a Japanese politician. Formerly a chief secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party , he later defected from the LDP. He was the president of Japan's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan , from 2006 until May 2009, when he resigned over a fund scandal, and secretary general of the...

 to join the Japan Renewal Party

Japan Renewal Party

The Japan Renewal Party was a Japanese political party that existed in the early 1990s. It was founded in 1993 by 44 members of the Liberal Democratic Party led by Tsutomu Hata and Ichirō Ozawa...

 in 1993. Through a series of splits and mergers, Okada then became a member of the Shinshinto

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...

, Sun Party

Sun Party

The Sun Party was a Japanese political party which existed from 1996 to 1998. It was a liberal reformist party that was opposed to the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party ....

, and Minseito

Good Governance Party

The was a Japanese political party which was in existence for a short period in early 1998. It was a centrist, reformist party that merged with other parties in April 1998 to form the Democratic Party of Japan....

, finally entering the DPJ upon its merger with Minseito in 1998.

He became president of the DPJ on May 18, 2004, and led the DPJ to one of its largest electoral victories in history during the 2004 House of Councillors election. However, he resigned after his party suffered dramatic losses in the September 2005 general election.

Okada ran for the presidency in 2009 but lost to Yukio Hatoyama

Yukio Hatoyama

is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....

. Following the success of the Democratic Party of Japan in the 2009 general election

Japanese general election, 2009

A general election in Japan was held on August 30, 2009, for all 480 seats of the House of Representatives of Japan, the lower house of the Diet of Japan....

, Hatoyama selected Okada to be the Foreign Minister.

Okada was regarded as a possible successor of Hatoyama when Hatoyama announced his resignation as Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Japan

The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...

 and DPJ leader in June 2010, but Okada gave his support to Finance Minister Naoto Kan

Naoto Kan

is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...

, who quickly emerged as the likely successor to Hatoyama. Ichirō Ozawa, however, whose resignation had also been reported announced by Hatoyama, was still supporting another less well known possible successor, Shinji Tarutoko, 50, a legislator who leads the environmental policy committee in the lower house of Parliament, a day before the DPJ leadership elections. After being selected as the new prime minister, Kan reaffirmed Okada as foreign minister.

As foreign minister, Okada was one of the chief participants in negotiations with the United States (US) over the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma or MCAS Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 4,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and has been a U.S. military airbase since the island was occupied...

 on Okinawa. The Foreign Ministry under Okada also confirmed the existence of a long-rumored secret pact between Japan and US which had allowed the US military to carry nuclear weapons into Japanese territory in contravention of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan

Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan

The was signed between the United States and Japan in Washington, D.C. on January 19, 1960. It strengthened Japan's ties to the West during the Cold War era...

. The previous administration under the LDP

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...

 had denied that such a pact existed.

In a September 2010 cabinet reshuffle, Okada was moved from Foreign Minister to Secretary General of the DPJ. Okada, who is viewed as an intraparty ally of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, is believed to have been given the role of Secretary General in order to secure Kan's influence in the governing party, as well as to help force the passage of government bills in parliament.

Other interests

Okada is said to be an avid collector of frog knick knacks, which decorate his office.

External links

for Okada

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