Yukio Edano

Yukio Edano 枝野 幸男
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
In office September 12, 2011 – December 26, 2012
Prime Minister	Yoshihiko Noda
Preceded by	Yoshio Hachiro
Succeeded by	Toshimitsu Motegi
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office January 4, 2011 – September 2, 2011
Prime Minister	Naoto Kan
Preceded by	Yoshito Sengoku
Succeeded by	Osamu Fujimura
Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
In office January 14, 2011 – September 2, 2011
Prime Minister	Naoto Kan
Preceded by	Sumio Mabuchi
Succeeded by	Tatsuo Kawabata
Minister of Foreign Affairs Acting
In office March 7, 2011 – March 9, 2011
Prime Minister	Naoto Kan
Preceded by	Seiji Maehara
Succeeded by	Takeaki Matsumoto
Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
In office February 10, 2010 – June 8, 2010
Prime Minister	Yukio Hatoyama
Preceded by	Yoshito Sengoku
Succeeded by	Renhō
Personal details
Born	(1964-05-31) May 31, 1964 Utsunomiya, Japan
Political party	Democratic Party (1998–present)
Other political affiliations	New Party (1992–1994) New Frontier Party (1994–1998)
Alma mater	Tohoku University
Website	Official website

Yukio Edano (枝野 幸男, Edano Yukio, born May 31, 1964) is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. He was the Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Kan government. From 2011 to 2012, he served as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry^[1]

Early life and education

Born in Utsunomiya, Tochigi on May 31, 1964, Edano is a graduate of Tohoku University. He was elected for the first time in 1993 as a member of Morihiro Hosokawa's Japan New Party.

Politics

He participated in the formation of the DPJ in 1996. He was appointed as the secretary general of the party in March 2010 when it was the country's ruling party. Katsuya Okada, the former Foreign Minister, subsequently replaced him in September 2010.

In January 2011, he became Chief Cabinet Secretary.^[2] In March 2011, he was temporarily appointed as head of the Foreign Ministry.^[3]

Chief Cabinet Secretary

with James Steinberg (January 27, 2011)

In the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, he was the face of the government efforts to combat the aftermath, frequently appearing on television to talk about the problems at the two reactor facilities in Fukushima. Because of the frequency of his appearances, Twitter users concerned with his health were prompted to post messages asking him to get some sleep. The Twitter hashtag "#edano_nero" became popular, from the imperative word for sleep! (寝ろ, nero) in Japanese.^[4] On June 18, 2012, he approved the introduction of feed-in-tariffs, a system that has proven very beneficial in Germany, whereby a percentage of energy use fees are used to subsidize (a shift to) renewable energy.^[5]

References

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