Kōichi Hagiuda

Kōichi Hagiuda (萩生田 光一) is a Japanese politician who served as the Chairman of the Policy Research Council of the Liberal Democratic Party from August 2022 to December 2023. He previously served as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and was Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary from 2015 to 2016 and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021.

Biography
Born and raised in Hachiōji, Hagiuda graduated from Waseda Jitsugyo High School, and Meiji University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1987.

While still a university student, Hagiuda had become an aide to the Hachiōji city councilman Ryuichi Kurosu. In 1991, at the age of 27, Hagiuda himself was elected the Hachiōji City Council, becoming the youngest candidate ever elected to the council. Kurosu was elected to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in 1993, but resigned in 2000 to run for Mayor of Hachiōji. Hagiuda was elected to his vacated seat in the Metropolitan Assembly. He then ran in the 2005 general election for the Liberal Democratic Party and was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time.

Hagiuda joined the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai within the LDP. A conservative, he became known as one of Shinzō Abe's closest aides and personal friends. He also became close to former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. He lost his seat in the 2009 general election, but returned in the 2012 general election.

Hagiuda was appointed Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in 2015. In 2017 he was made Executive Acting Secretary General of the LDP, an exceptional appointment since it had previously only been given to former cabinet ministers. In 2019 he joined the cabinet for the first time as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He remained in this post under Yoshihide Suga. When Fumio Kishida became prime minister in 2021 he became Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Following the assassination of Shinzo Abe, ties between Diet members and Unification Church came under scrutiny. Hagiuda was one of those alleged to have close ties to the group. An anonymous source claimed in a tabloid that Hagiuda had made regular visits to the Church in Hachioji during his time out of office from 2009 to 2012 and was "like one of the family." Hagiuda disputed these statements but admitted he had made speeches at affiliated organisations.

When Kishida reshuffled the cabinet and party leadership in August 2022, Hagiuda was appointed Chairman of the Policy Research Council for the LDP.

In December 2023, he resigned as Chairman of the Policy Research Council amid a financial scandal involving the Liberal Democratic Party.

He is affiliated to the conservative organisation Nippon Kaigi.

Personal life
Hagiuda is married, and has one daughter and one son. His hobbies include sports such as baseball, rugby, and golf. He also enjoys watching movies, holding movie-viewing events annually in conjunction with his personal support group, or koenkai. His personal website also lists "trying new restaurants" as a hobby, calling him a "self-proclaimed gourmet", and also mentions his frequent enjoyment of after-meal ramen.