Sanae Takaichi

Sanae Takaichi (高市 早苗, Takaichi Sanae^?, born March 7, 1961) served in the following positions: Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, Minister of State for Innovation, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Gender Equality^[2] and Minister of State for Food Safety in the Japanese Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.

Born and raised in the city of Nara, Takaichi graduated from to Nara Prefectural Unebi Senior High School for her secondary education, then she received Bachelor of Business Administration from Kobe University in 1984.

She graduated from Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. In 1987, she moved to the United States to work for Democratic U.S. Representative Patricia Schroeder as a Congressional Fellow.

When Takaichi returned to Japan on 1989, she gained attention from the mass media as a legislative analyst with experience in the US Congress, and wrote books based on the experience. In 1992, she formed Kansai Hi-Vision Consortium and presided as the first chairperson.

In 1993, Takaichi ran as an independent candidate for the House of Representatives of Japan, Nara Prefectural district and won the most votes. She joined the "Liberals" study group of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Koji Kakizawa, which became part of the New Frontier Party.

In 1996, Takaichi ran as sanctioned candidate from New Frontier Party and reelected to the House of Representatives (lower house). However New Frontier Party lost nationally. On November 5, she responded to recruitment from the Secretary-General of LDP Koichi Kato, and, then, joined the LDP. Act of switching the party, two months after winning the election with anti-LDP votes resulted in heavy criticism from the New Frontier Party members.

In the LDP, Takaichi belonged to the Mori Faction (formally, the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyū-kai) and she served as a Parliamentary Vice Minister for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry under Keizō Obuchi cabinet. She also served as chairman of Education and Science Committee. In 2000, House of Representatives election she was placed in the first position in proportional representation ballot from LDP and easily won her third term.

In 2002 she was appointed as the Senior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry under Junichiro Koizumi. However in 2003 lower house election, the first since she switched parties with her own name on the ballot, she lost.

In 2004 she took a faculty position at Kinki University. She married Taku Yamamoto who is a fellow member of the House of Representatives.

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)