Yoshitaka Shindō

Yoshitaka Shindō (新藤 義孝) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) for Saitama Prefecture 2nd District.

Affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, Shindo is known for his committed stance on territorial disputes with neighboring countries of Japan, and his recurring visits to the controversial Yasukuni shrine.

Early life and education
A native of Kawaguchi, Saitama, Shindo was born on 20 January 1958. His mother, Takako Shindō, was a daughter of Tadamichi Kuribayashi, a general of the Imperial Japanese Army. He studied literature at Meiji University and graduated in 1981.

Career
Shindo had worked in the city government of Kawaguchi since 1980 and had served in the assembly of Kawaguchi since 1991. He joined the Liberal Democratic Party and part of the Nukaga faction. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1996. In 2002, he was appointed parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs.

He lost his seat in 2003 but was re-elected in 2005 from the Saitama Prefecture District 2. Shindo was named as the vice minister of trade in 2006. In the general elections on 16 December 2012, he was again elected from the Saitama Prefecture District 2. He was appointed minister of internal affairs and communications in the cabinet of Shinzō Abe on 26 December 2012.

Shindo, while serving as the executive acting chairperson of the LDP Policy Research Council, pressed for a 15 trillion-yen stimulus package to counter the effects of inflation on Japanese households. He was a vocal opponent of calls to end the Bank of Japan's easy money policies, saying that "No country uses monetary policy to manipulate currency rates".

Shindo was given 6 ministerial positions in the Second Kishida Cabinet (Second Reshuffle), the most important being Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization. Since entering the cabinet, Shindo has stressed the need for domestic wage growth to drive consumption in order to end Japan's deflationary woes.

A top secretary for the late Motegi Faction, Shindo has been caught-up in the 2023-2024 Japanese slush fund scandal, having told reporters that "We've decided to continue discussions while sharing the idea of dissolving the faction and breaking away from money and personnel affairs". Renhō Saitō of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan accused Shindo of personally engaging in the same practices as the greater Motegi Faction, calling it "the Motegi Faction method."

Shindo is head of a kindergarten in his hometown.