Hirotaka Akamatsu

Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of JapanIn office
1 November 2017 – 14 October 2021SpeakerTadamori OshimaPreceded byTatsuo KawabataSucceeded byBanri KaiedaIn office
26 December 2012 – 21 November 2014SpeakerBunmei IbukiPreceded bySeishirō EtōSucceeded byTatsuo KawabataMinister of Agriculture, Forestry and FisheriesIn office
16 September 2009 – 8 June 2010Prime MinisterYukio HatoyamaPreceded byShigeru IshibaSucceeded byMasahiko YamadaMember of the House of RepresentativesIn office
18 February 1990 – 14 October 2021ConstituencyAichi-5th (1996–2005, 2009–2012, 2014–2021)
Tōkai PR (2005–2009, 2012–2014)
Aichi-6th (1990–1996) Personal detailsBorn (1948-05-03) 3 May 1948 (age 76)
Nagoya, Aichi, JapanPolitical partyCDPOther political
affiliationsDP (2016–2017, split)
DPJ (1996–2016, merger)
SDP (Jan–Sep 1996)
JSP (1966–1996, name change)Alma materWaseda UniversityWebsitego-akamatsu.com

Hirotaka Akamatsu (赤松 広隆, Akamatsu Hirotaka, born May 3, 1948) is a Japanese politician from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a former minister and Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan.

Life and career

A native of Nagoya and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the first of his three terms in the Aichi Prefectural Assembly and then to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990 as a member of the Japan Socialist Party.

He was appointed Minister of Agriculture in 2009. In April 2010, he skipped the traditional visit by legislators to Ise Jingu, opting instead to take a holiday in Mexico with his wife. While he was on vacation, Japan suffered a large outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. His response to the outbreak was widely criticized and the Ministry of Agriculture apologized on his behalf on May 31.^[1] The Hatoyama government collapsed in June and Akamatsu was not reappointed.

Akamatsu was the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives between 2012 and 2014 and again between 2017 and 2021.

References

• 政治家情報 〜赤松 広隆〜. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2007-10-16.

External links

• Official website in Japanese.

Political offices
Preceded by Shigeru Ishiba	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan 2009–2010	Succeeded by Masahiko Yamada
Party political offices
Preceded by Tatsuo Kawabata	Chairman of the DPJ Diet Affairs Committee 2000–2001	Succeeded by Hiroshi Kumagai
New political party	Chairman of the DPJ Diet Affairs Committee 1996–1997	Succeeded by Junsuke Iwata
Preceded by Sadao Yamahana	Secretary-General of the Japan Socialist Party 1993	Succeeded by Wataru Kubo
House of Representatives of Japan
Preceded by Kenji Kanda	Representative for Aichi's 5th district 2014–2021	Succeeded by Kenji Kanda
Preceded by -	Representative for the Tōkai proportional representation block 2012–2014	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Takahide Kimura	Representative for Aichi's 5th district 2009–2012	Succeeded by Kenji Kanda
Preceded by -	Representative for the Tōkai proportional representation block 2005–2009	Succeeded by -
New district	Representative for Aichi's 5th district 1996–2005	Succeeded by Takahide Kimura
Preceded by Saburō Tsukamoto Takeshi Kataoka Kōshirō Ishida Iwao Andō	Representative for Aichi's 6th district (multi-member) 1990–1996 Served alongside: Kōshirō Ishida, Tadao Ōtani, Takeshi Kataoka, Saburō Tsukamoto	District eliminated