Hiroyuki Hosoda
細田 博之
Official portrait, 2012
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
10 November 2021 – 20 October 2023
MonarchNaruhito
DeputyBanri Kaieda
Preceded byTadamori Ōshima
Succeeded byFukushiro Nukaga
Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party
In office
22 September 2008 – 29 September 2009
PresidentTarō Asō
Preceded byTarō Asō
Succeeded byTadamori Oshima
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
7 May 2004 – 31 October 2005
Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi
Preceded byYasuo Fukuda
Succeeded byShinzo Abe
Member of the House of Representatives from Shimane
In office
20 October 1996 – 10 November 2023
Preceded byConstituency established
Constituency1st district
In office
18 February 1990 – 20 October 1996
Preceded byKichizō Hosoda
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyShimane At-large (multi-member)
Personal details
Born(1944-04-05)5 April 1944
Matsue, Shimane, Japan
Died10 November 2023(2023-11-10) (aged 79)
Tokyo, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo

Hiroyuki Hosoda (細田 博之, Hosoda Hiroyuki, 5 April 1944 – 10 November 2023) was a Japanese politician who served as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan from November 2021 to October 2023. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1990, and served as Chief Cabinet Secretary in Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet from 2004 to 2005, and as Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2008 to 2009.

Early life

Hiroyuki Hosoda was born in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture on 5 April 1944. He graduated from the law faculty of the University of Tokyo, and worked at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry from 1967 to 1986, serving as Director of the Washington Office of Japan National Oil Corporation from 1983 to 1985, and as Director of the Price Policy Division in the Industrial Policy Bureau from 1985 to 1986.[1][2]

Hosoda enjoyed playing contract bridge.[2]

Political career

Hosoda left government service in 1986 to become a secretary to his father, Kichizo Hosoda (1912–2007), who was then a member of the House of Representatives. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the 1990 general election, representing the Shimane Prefecture at-large district, which had previously been his father's constituency.[2]

Koizumi government

Hosoda with then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Heizo Takenaka, and others in June 2005

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed Hosoda to the Cabinet posts of Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, and Minister of State for IT Policy in 2002. Hosoda became Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in September 2003, and was promoted to Chief Cabinet Secretary and Minister of State for Gender Equality following Yasuo Fukuda's resignation in May 2004.[1]

Aso government

After Tarō Asō was elected to the LDP presidency and became Prime Minister, Hosoda was appointed Secretary-General of the LDP. He served in this post from September 2008 to September 2009,[3] when he resigned following the party's historic defeat in the 2009 general election.[4]

Abe government

Following Shinzo Abe's victory in the 2012 LDP presidential election, Abe appointed Hosoda to head the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai (Seiwa-kai), the largest faction in the party, replacing Nobutaka Machimura.[5] The faction is now commonly known as the "Hosoda faction".[6]

Hosoda briefly served as Acting LDP Secretary-General following Sadakazu Tanigaki's hospitalization for a spinal cord injury in July 2016.[7] In August 2016, Hosoda was appointed Chairman of the LDP General Council.[8]

Hosoda chaired the LDP's 2018 task force on reforming the Constitution of Japan, drawing up a four-point revision proposal in March 2018 that included an amendment to Article 9 to make explicit reference to the Self-Defense Forces.[9][10] Abe named Hosoda as head of the LDP Headquarters for the Promotion of Revision of the Constitution in September 2019, replacing Hakubun Shimomura, who was viewed as more "dogmatic" than Hosoda and had antagonized opposition parties.[11][12]

Hosoda was a member of the LDP Parliamentary Group on the Promotion and Conservation of Japanese Sword and Ironwork Culture, which supported subsidies for Tatara steel.[13]

Kishida government

Hosoda with Akiko Santō (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) in January 2022

After the 2021 Japanese general election, Hosoda, at 77 years old, was elected as Speaker of the Lower House.[14] After he was twice hospitalized over the summer months in 2023, Hosoda stepped down as the Lower House Speaker due to health problems.[15] The House of Representatives accepted the resignation and Fukushiro Nukaga was elected on 20 October to take over as Hosoda's replacement.[16]

Death

On 10 November 2023, Hosoda died of multiple organ failure at his home in Tokyo, Japan at the age of 79, just one month after he resigned from the House of Representatives.[17] After stepping down as chairman, Hosoda was repeatedly hospitalized and absent from plenary sessions, but it is said that his condition suddenly deteriorated the day before his death.

References

  1. ^ a b "Chief Cabinet Secretary / Minister of State for Gender Equality Hiroyuki HOSODA". kantei.go.jp.
  2. ^ a b c "詳細". 細田博之オフィシャルウェブサイト (in Japanese). 14 March 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Former Lower House speaker and LDP heavyweight Hiroyuki Hosoda dies". The Japan Times. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ^ "細田・自民党幹事長「党三役辞任の意向」". Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). 30 August 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ^ Lim, Tai Wei (25 May 2015). "Navigating Japan's complex political landscape". TODAYonline. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  6. ^ "細田博之 前衆議院議長が死去 79歳". NHK (in Japanese). 10 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Japan's Abe seeks continuity in linchpin party post". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. ^ Osaki, Tomohiro (3 August 2016). "Experience valued over youth in Abe's reshuffle of LDP executive". The Japan Times. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Key LDP panel agrees to pursue Abe's proposed amendment of Japan's pacifist Constitution". The Japan Times. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Abe picks legislative vets to lead charge on constitution". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Abe to appoint more liberal LDP members to key posts in bid to spur talks on constitutional reform". The Japan Times. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  12. ^ "LDP open to ideas on Constitution from other parties, says head of revision panel Hiroyuki Hosoda". The Japan Times. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Campaign to Save Japanese Sword Culture Gets Support From Political Heavyweights". JAPAN Forward. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Kishida forms 2nd Cabinet on heels of election". Yomiuri Shimbun. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2023. Prior to the Diet vote on the prime minister, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, 77, of the LDP was elected as lower house speaker, and former economy minister Banri Kaieda, 72, of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan was chosen as vice speaker during the afternoon plenary session.
  15. ^ "Lower House Speaker Hosoda to step down due to poor health". The Asahi Shimbun. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  16. ^ "衆院議長に額賀氏選出 臨時国会召集、物価高対策など論戦". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). 20 October 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  17. ^ "細田博之前衆院議長が死去 官房長官や自民幹事長務める". The Nikkei (in Japanese). Nikkei Inc. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.

External links

Political offices Preceded byYasuo Fukuda Chief Cabinet Secretary 2004–2005 Succeeded byShinzō Abe Preceded byTadamori Ōshima Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan 2021–2023 Succeeded byFukushiro Nukaga Party political offices Preceded byTaro Aso Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party 2008–2009 Succeeded byTadamori Oshima
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