Katsunobu Katō | |
|---|---|
加藤 勝信 | |
.jpg) Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Minister of Finance | |
| Assumed office 1 October 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Shigeru Ishiba |
| Preceded by | Shun'ichi Suzuki |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary | |
| In office 16 September 2020 – 4 October 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Yoshihide Suga |
| Preceded by | Yoshihide Suga |
| Succeeded by | Hirokazu Matsuno |
| Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare | |
| In office 10 August 2022 – 13 September 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Fumio Kishida |
| Preceded by | Shigeyuki Goto |
| Succeeded by | Keizō Takemi |
| In office 11 September 2019 – 16 September 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Shinzo Abe |
| Preceded by | Takumi Nemoto |
| Succeeded by | Norihisa Tamura |
| In office 3 August 2017 – 2 October 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Shinzo Abe |
| Preceded by | Yasuhisa Shiozaki |
| Succeeded by | Takumi Nemoto |
| Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate | |
| In office 7 October 2015 – 3 August 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Shinzo Abe |
| Preceded by | Haruko Arimura |
| Succeeded by | Masaji Matsuyama |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 10 November 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Constituency | Chūgoku PR (2003–2009) Okayama 5th (2009–2024) Okayama 3rd (2024–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Katsunobu Murosaki (1955-11-22)22 November 1955 (age 69) Tokyo, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic |
| Spouse | Shuko Kato |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Mutsuki Kato (father-in-law) Takenori Kato (uncle-in-law) Koko Kato (sister-in-law) |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo (BEc) |
| Occupation | Economist •Politician |
Katsunobu Katō (加藤 勝信,Katō Katsunobu; born 22 November 1955) is a Japanese politician. He was served as theMinister of Finance under Japanese Prime MinisterShigeru Ishiba since October 2024. Previously, he was served as the three-timeMinister of Health, Labour, and Welfare underShinzo Abe from 2017 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2020, and underFumio Kishida from 2022 to 2023, and as theChief Cabinet Secretary underYoshihide Suga from 2020 to 2021. Belonging to theLiberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of theHouse of Representatives since 2003.
Born and raised inTokyo and a graduate of theUniversity of Tokyo, Kato had a bureaucratic career in theMinistry of Finance before going into politics.
Kato was born as Katsunobu Murosaki (室崎勝信) on 22 November 1955 in Tokyo, Japan. His father, Katsutoshi Murosaki, was an executive atHino Motors. The family came fromShimane Prefecture, where his grandfather, Katsuzo Murosaki was a businessman and prefectural assemblyman. Kato studied economics at theUniversity of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Finance upon graduating in 1979. He held several positions, such as chief of theKurayoshi Tax Office, secretary toDeputy Chief Cabinet SecretaryHideo Watanabe and chief inspector for the labour and defense budgets.[1][2]
In April 1994, Kato was assigned as secretary to the Minister of Agriculture Mutsuki Kato. Kato married Shuko Kato, the daughter of Mutsuki Kato. As his family had only daughters, Kato wasadopted by his father-in-law to carry on his family name. He retired from the Ministry of Finance in 1995 and became his father-in-law's personal secretary.[1][2][3][4]
Kato would pursue his political career inOkayama Prefecture, where his adoptive family was based. After unsuccessful runs in1998 and2000, Kato was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the2003 general election. He had initially run as an independent as his father-in-law had left the LDP, however fellow Okayama politician and former Prime MinisterRyutaro Hashimoto recruited him for the party and when elected, Kato joined theHeisei Kenkyukai led by Hashimoto. This was significant as Hashimoto and Mutsuki Kato had long been rivals in the political world of Okayama.[5]
Kato became a confidant ofShinzo Abe. This was partially due to a family relationship, as Mutsuki Kato had been a close ally of Abe's fatherShintaro Abe and his wife had remained a close friend of Abe's mother,Yoko.[1][3][4] In August 2007, Kato became parliamentary vice minister to the Cabinet Office in theAbe Cabinet. He was retained until the end of theYasuo Fukuda Cabinet.[2]
When Abe was re-elected as president of the LDP in September 2012, he appointed Kato as his special assistant. In December of the same year, the LDP returned to government and Kato was appointedDeputy Chief Cabinet Secretary. In October 2015, Kato joined the cabinet for the first time as minister of state with a portfolio including countermeasures against the declining birthrate and women's empowerment.[6][7]
When Shinzo Abe reshuffled his cabinet in August 2017 , Kato became as the Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare, but he left cabinet in October 2018 when he was appointed Chairman of the General Council, one of four key posts in the LDP. Kato was reappointed as Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare in September 2019.[2][3]
After Abe resigned as Prime Minister on 16 September 2020 for health reasons, Kato was appointedChief Cabinet Secretary under his successorYoshihide Suga.[8] After the end of theSuga Cabinet after one year, Kato became chairman of the Social Security Research Commission and subcommittee chairman of the Tax Research Commission within the LDP.[9]
In August 2022 when Prime MinisterFumio Kishidareshuffled his cabinet following theassassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe one month previous, Kato was appointed Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare for the third time.[2] On 27 April 2023 asCOVID-19 Omicron infections continued to declined, Kato announced that Japanese government would be downgrade the classification of COVID-19 to be on par with a "seasonal flu" by midnight 8 May after the three days delayed during the 8-day holiday period ofGolden Week Festival.[10][11][12][13][14]
Kato left from the cabinet due to thereshuffle in September 2023, after which he once again became chairman of the Social Security Research Commission, and as well as Secretary-General of the LDP Headquarters for Realizing Constitutional Revision.[15] In September 2024, Kato was named to join the cabinet ofShigeru Ishiba as Minister of Finance.[16]
Netherlands: Grand Officer of theOrder of Orange-Nassau (29 October 2014)[17]| Election | Age | District | Political party | Number of votes | election results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Japanese House of Councillors election | 42 | Okayama at-large district | Independent | 73,508 | lost |
| 2000 Japanese general election | 44 | Chūgoku proportional representation block | LDP | ーー | lost |
| 2003 Japanese general election | 47 | Chūgoku proportional representation block | LDP | ーー | winning |
| 2005 Japanese general election | 49 | Chūgoku proportional representation block | LDP | ーー | winning |
| 2009 Japanese general election | 53 | Okayama 5th district | LDP | 105,172 | winning |
| 2012 Japanese general election | 57 | Okayama 5th district | LDP | 101,117 | winning |
| 2014 Japanese general election | 59 | Okayama 5th district | LDP | 105,969 | winning |
| 2017 Japanese general election | 61 | Okayama 5th district | LDP | 100,708 | winning |
| 2021 Japanese general election | 65 | Okayama 5th district | LDP | 102,139 | winning |
| 2024 Japanese general election | 68 | Okayama 3rd district | LDP | 133,389 | winning |
| [18][19] | |||||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tsuyoshi Saitō | Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political affairs, House of Representatives) 2012–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Minister of State for Gender Equality 2015–2017 | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare 2019–2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Cabinet Secretary 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the General Council, Liberal Democratic Party 2018–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Subcommittee Chairman of the Tax Research Commission, Liberal Democratic Party 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Social Security Research Commission, Liberal Democratic Party 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Social Security Research Commission, Liberal Democratic Party 2023–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Subcommittee Chairman of the Tax Research Commission, Liberal Democratic Party 2023–2024 | Succeeded by |
Finance ministers of theG20 | |
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