Noda entered politics in 1993 as a member of the now-defunctJapan New Party. In 1996, he joined theDemocratic Party of Japan (DPJ). After the DPJ won control of the Diet in2009 general election, Noda was named a senior vice minister of finance in the cabinet of Prime MinisterYukio Hatoyama, and in 2010, was named minister of finance in the cabinet of Prime MinisterNaoto Kan. Following Kan's resignation as prime minister, Noda won the ensuingleadership election and was appointed prime minister on 2 September 2011.
As the DPJ underwent mergers and reorganizations, Noda left to sit as anindependent politician. In 2021, Noda joined the CDP, the primary successor to the DPJ. In 2024, Noda successfully stood for theCDP's party presidential election, defeating incumbent leaderKenta Izumi and former leaderYukio Edano. Weeks after assuming the presidency of the party, the2024 Japanese general election was announced, with the CDP achieving its best result in party history, and the ruling LDP coalition being limited to a minority.
Noda was born inFunabashi on 20 May 1957, the son of a paratrooper in theJapan Self-Defense Forces.[2] Unlike many prominent Japanese politicians, Noda has no family connections toNagatachō. His parents were too poor to pay for a wedding reception.[3][4]
Noda graduated fromChiba Prefectural Funabashi Senior High School in 1975. He graduated fromWaseda University with theB.A. degree inPolitical Science in 1980 and was later accepted into theMatsushita Institute. This institution was founded byKōnosuke Matsushita (the founder ofPanasonic) to groom future civic leaders of Japan. While attending the Matsushita Institute, Noda read household gas meters as a part-time job in his nativeChiba Prefecture, partially in order to get to know his future constituents better in preparation for a run for office.[5] He was first elected to theassembly of Chiba Prefecture in 1987 at the age of 29.
Noda acted as senior vice finance minister during the premiership ofYukio Hatoyama after the DPJ won control of the Diet in2009 general election, and was appointed asMinister of Finance by Prime MinisterNaoto Kan in June 2010. He was known as a reformist and had led a DPJ intraparty group critical of ex-DPJ powerbrokerIchirō Ozawa. Upon assuming the post of finance minister, Noda, afiscal conservative, expressed his determination to slash Japan's deficit and rein in gross public debt. In January 2011, for the first time in six years, the finance ministry intervened in theforeign exchange market and spent 2.13 trillion yen to purchase dollars in order to rein in the yen's spiraling appreciation.
After Naoto Kan's resignation in August 2011, Noda stood as a candidate in theparty election to replace him.[7][8] He won a runoff vote againstBanri Kaieda in the leadership election, making him the presumptive prime minister. He inherited the challenge of the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami reconstruction plans.[9][10]
During the party caucus making the leadership decision, Noda made a 15-minute speech in which he summarized his political career by comparing himself todojo loach, a kind of bottom-feeding fish. Paraphrasing a poem byMitsuo Aida, he said, "I'll never be a goldfish in a scarlet robe, but like a loach in muddy waters. I'll work hard for the people, to move politics forward."[5] The "loach speech" was popular among his colleagues and cemented his political reputation at the start of his term.[11]
Noda told his foreign policy and was said to have closerelations with the United States, and stressed the importance of theUS-Japan security alliance in August 2011 speech.[12] On 15 August 2011 —the anniversary of theSurrender of Japan inWorld War II, he said that Japan's class A war criminals convicted by theAllies were not legally war criminals under his view.[13] As prime minister of Japan, he stated that his position on this issue would follow the standard set by previous administrations, and that he did not wish to alter closerelationship with China andSouth Korea.[14]
In his first speech as Prime Minister on 2 September 2011, Noda confirmed that the Japanese government would continue to phase outnuclear power, by not building newnuclear power plants nor extending the life spans of outdated ones. In May 2012, nuclear power plants which were sitting idle in the wake of theFukushima accident were restarted in order to help Japan's immediate demands for energy,[15] despite protests including hundreds of people.[16]
Participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations
During premiership of Noda, one of his most important initiatives was pursuing the entry of Japan into the negotiations for theTrans-Pacific Partnership, which he announced on 11 November 2011.[17] This proved controversial and was widely discussed in Japanese society.
TheTokyo Metropolitan Government underGovernorShintaro Ishihara sought to buy theSenkaku Islands, whichare claimed by China and Taiwan.[18] Ishihara wished to build facilities on the islands to more obviously claim them as Japanese territory, a move which the national government under Noda regarded as likely to exacerbate tensions with China. On 27 April 2012 the Tokyo government began raising funds from the public to purchase the islands.[19] By September 2012 1.4 billion yen ($17.8 million) had been raised.[20]
On 24 August, Noda went on live television and vowed to appeal to the international community to support Japan's claims to sovereignty over islands at the center of separate disputes with South Korea and China.[21] On 11 September, the Japanese government nationalized its control over Minami-kojima, Kita-kojima, and Uotsuri islands by purchasing them from the Kurihara family for ¥2.05 billion.[22] China's Foreign Ministry objected saying Beijing would not "sit back and watch its territorial sovereignty violated."[23]
Another major priority of Noda's was his effort to increase Japan'sconsumption tax from 5% to 10%. During this struggle Noda said that he "staked his political life" on the passage of the law.[24] The bill passed through the lower house of the diet on 26 June 2012,[25] and passed the upper house on 10 August 2012.[26] On 10 August 2012, Noda survived a no-confidence vote after proposing a five-percent increase in the sales tax.[27] During negotiations for the tax, Noda promised to call an early election "soon".[28] Afterwards, he stated that he had planned to quit as a lawmaker if he had been unable to pass the consumption tax increase.[29]
Noda received praise for passing the consumption tax hike despite intense opposition, but was also criticized for bringing the DPJ closer in substance to its rival LDP, rather than keeping the campaign promises by which itdefeated the LDP in 2009. One commentator called him "the best prime minister the LDP never had."[30]
On 21 September 2012, Noda won the DPJ's leadership bi-annual election[31] by 818 points out of 1,231. He then said: "I would like to beef up our teamwork so that we can shift the DPJ once again to make it a fighting force that can serve Japan. [I promise to] sweat with all of you to make a vigorous Japan together. The real reform Japan needs is decisive politics when we face issues that need to be decided." His result was seen as more certain after Environment MinisterGoshi Hosono stepped back from standing in the election. He defeated former agriculture ministersMichihiko Kano andHirotaka Akamatsu, as well as former internal affairs ministerKazuhiro Haraguchi.[32][33]
On 14 November 2012, Noda stated that the diet would be dissolved on 16 November 2012, and the election would be held on 16 December 2012. Given the DPJ's poor figures in the polls, many members of the DPJ were opposed to this,[34] including General SecretaryAzuma Koshiishi, and there was talk among some DPJ members of trying to oust Noda before the next election.[35]
The DPJ managed to narrow its polling gap with the LDP prior to the start of the election campaign in December, raising hopes that the DPJ could prevent the LDP from obtaining an outright majority and force a coalition government to be formed.[30] In the wake of the brutal battle surrounding the consumption tax increase, Noda revived the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a campaign issue, making market liberalization the focal point of his campaign strategy.[36]
In thegeneral election, held on 16 December, the LDP enjoyed a resounding victory under the leadership ofShinzo Abe (former prime minister served from 2006 to 2007), winning an outright majority while the DPJ lost around three-fourths of its seats. Noda immediately announced his resignation as president of the DPJ in order to take responsibility for the defeat.[37]
In March 2016 the DPJ and theJapan Innovation Party merged to form the newDemocratic Party (Minshintō). In September of the same year a protégé of Noda,Renhō, waselected president of the party and Noda was appointed secretary-general. This was controversial within the party as many still blamed Noda for defeat in the 2012 election. Noda and Renhō both resigned from their posts after disastrous results in theJuly 2017 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly elections.[38]
After theassassination of Shinzo Abe on 8 July 2022, Noda attended the state funeral of Abe held on 27 September inNippon Budokan as former prime minister, but most lawmakers of theConstitutional Democratic Party of Japan including his predecessors, Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan were absent. Noda delivered a funeral oration of Abe on 25 October 2022 in the plenary session of the House of Representatives.[39][40]
Under Noda's leadership, the CDP made strong gains in the2024 Japanese general election on October 27, during which the rulingLDP-Komeito coalition was reduced to a minority government. On 11 November, Noda lost a bid to become prime minister to the LDP'sShigeru Ishiba during an extraordinary session of the Diet.[49]
After a heated argument between US President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that took place during a televised meeting on 28 February 2025, Noda described Prime Minister Ishiba's response as "insufficient" adding that "Japan's stance is unclear. I'm dissatisfied."[50]
Noda has been married toHitomi since 1992 and has two sons.[51] He has ablack belt injudo.[5] His favorite food and drink are ramen and sake. He wrote a book entitled Enemy of the DPJ: Government Change Has a Good Cause.
In an interview withThe Washington Post, Noda said he loved watching movies and is a fan ofMeryl Streep, who had recently won an Academy Award for her portrayal of the former British prime ministerMargaret Thatcher inThe Iron Lady. The movie follows Thatcher's life and career as she pushed through a series of economic and administrative reforms despite opposition from her countrymen. Noda also said one of his favorite movies is the 1939 filmMr. Smith Goes to Washington, which tells the story of a U.S. senator who single-handedly fights against political corruption.[52]
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