Toshikatsu Matsuoka facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Toshikatsu Matsuoka
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松岡 利勝
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| Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | |
| In office 26 September 2006 – 28 May 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | Shinzō Abe |
| Succeeded by | Masatoshi Wakabayashi (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 February 1945 Aso, Kumamoto |
| Died | 28 May 2007 (aged 62) Tokyo |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | Tottori University |
Toshikatsu Matsuoka (born 25 February 1945 – died 28 May 2007) was a Japanese politician. He served as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2006 until his death in 2007.
Early Life and Education
Toshikatsu Matsuoka was born in Aso, Kumamoto, a town on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. His birthday was on 25 February 1945. His family worked as farmers.
After finishing high school in Kumamoto city, he went to Tottori University in Tottori Prefecture. There, he studied agricultural science, which is the study of farming and food production. He graduated from the university in 1969.
Political Career
After graduating from university, Matsuoka started working for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This is a government department in Japan that deals with farming, forests, and fishing.
In 1990, he left his job at the Ministry. He decided to run for a seat in the Japanese parliament, called the Diet. He won the election in his home area, Kumamoto, and became a member of parliament. After winning, he joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which is a major political party in Japan.
Matsuoka was part of a group within the LDP led by Shizuka Kamei. This group had different ideas from the prime minister at the time, Junichiro Koizumi. Koizumi wanted to change how the postal system worked, but Kamei and his group were against it. Matsuoka, however, supported Prime Minister Koizumi's plan. After the election in 2005, he was chosen to be on a special committee that worked on changing the postal system.
In 2006, Shinzō Abe became the new prime minister. He chose Matsuoka to be the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. In this role, Matsuoka worked on important issues. These included Free Trade Agreements with countries like Australia. He also dealt with problems related to importing beef from the United States, especially concerning mad cow disease.
Matsuoka also suggested a plan to certify Japanese food restaurants outside Japan. He got this idea from a system in Italy that protects famous food names. He hoped this would help people tell the difference between real Japanese food and places that just pretended to serve it. Some foreign news outlets called his idea the "sushi police." Because of the criticism, he changed his plan to a more flexible one.
Questions and Death
Before his death, Toshikatsu Matsuoka faced questions about his office expenses. He had claimed a large amount of money for things like utilities, even though his office was rent-free. He had also apologized earlier for not properly reporting some donations he received for his political work.
On 28 May 2007, Matsuoka was scheduled to answer more questions in the Diet. However, he died that day in a hospital in Tokyo. After his death, Norihiko Akagi was appointed to take over his role as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
