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Katsuya Okada
Japan

Katsuya Okada

Former Foreign Minister

Date of Birth: 14/07/1953
Place of Birth: Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan


 Japan's opposition the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) swept to a historic victory in elections Sunday 30 of august 2009, crushing the ruling conservative party that has run the country for most of the postwar era.

Mr. Hatoyama, the new Prime minister of Japan appointed minister of Katsuya Okada as Foreign Minister. He is a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, and the former president and the current Secretary General of the Democrartic Party of Japan.

Katsuya Okada is the second son of Takuya Okada, who is a founder of Japanese reatil AEON Group. His elder brother, Motoya Okada is the President and CEO of AEON Group.

A native of Yokkaichi, Mie, Okada graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in law, and entered the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. He also studied at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in Harvard University. 

He ran for the House of Representatives at the 1990 general election from LDP and later joined the Takeshita  faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, and followed faction leaders Tsutomu Hata and Ichiro Ozawa  to join the  Japan Renewal Party in 1993. Through a series of splits and mergers, Okada then became a member of the Shinshito, Sun Party, and Minseito, finally entering the DPJ upon its merger with Minseito in 1998. 

He became President of the DPJ on May 18, 2004, and led the DPJ to one of its largest electoral victories in history during the 2004 House of Councillors election. However, he resigned after his party suffered dramatic losses in the September 2005 general election.

In the September 2010 cabinet reshuffle, Okada was relieved of his role as Foreign Minister and appointed Secretary General of the DPJ