Naoto Kan

Naoto Kan
Member of the Japanese House of Representatives from Tokyo's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  1980
Born	October 10, 1946 (1946-10-10) (age 63) Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture
Political party	Democratic Party of Japan
Website	http://www.n-kan.jp/

Naoto Kan (菅 直人 Kan Naoto, born October 10, 1946) is a Japanese politician who was the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition party in the Diet, from 2002 to 2004. Kan was also Minister for Health and Welfare for a time in the 1990s. Call him "Boomeranist".

Born in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture as the son of businessman, Kan graduated in 1970 from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and opened a patent office in 1974. He actively engaged in civic movements for years and achieved a seat in the lower house in 1980 as a member of Socialist Democratic Federation (SDF) through a grassroots environmental campaign. He gained national popularity in 1996 when as health minister he exposed the minister's responsibility for the spread of tainted blood. At that time, he was a member of a small party forming the ruling coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). His action was completely unprecedented and was applauded by the mainstream media and the public. Kan also wrote a best-selling book Dai-jin (lit. minister) in which he writes that ministers should answer to the Emperor.

In 1998, he admitted that he failed to make payments into the state pension scheme for ten months. Although the amounts were relatively small, he left to avoid hurting the party. Additionally, his image had been hurt by the revelation of an affair with a television newscaster. After Yukio Hatoyama resigned as the leader of the party, Kan again took over the position. In July 2003, the DPJ and the Liberal Party led by Ichirō Ozawa agreed to form a uniformed opposition party to prepare for the general election that was anticipated to take place in the fall.

During the campaign of the election of 2003, the DPJ called the election as the choice of the government between the ruling LDP-bloc and the DPJ, with Kan being presented as the alternative candidate to then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. His face was used as the trademark of the campaign against the LDP.

However, in 2004, Kan was accused of unpaid annuities and forced to again resign the position of leader. On May 10 2004, he officially announced his resignation.

In mid-October 2005, Kan, who turned 60 in 2006, proposed the creation of a new political party to be called the "Dankai (baby boomer) Party." The initial intent of the party was to offer places of activity for the Japanese baby boomers - 2.7 million of whom began to retire en masse in 2007.

His hobby is Go, and he has a wife and two sons, and lives in Tokyo.

References

• BBC NEWS - Profile: Naoto Kan

External links

• Official Website
• Democratic Party of Japan