22 Facts About Hirohisa Fujii

Hirohisa Fujii was a Japanese politician who was a member of the House of Councillors from 1977 to 1986, and of the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2012.

Hirohisa Fujii served two terms as Minister of Finance, and as Secretary General of the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party of Japan.

Hirohisa Fujii graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1955 with a law degree.

Hirohisa Fujii began his career as a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance, which gave him authority on finance and tax system issues later in his legislative career.

Hirohisa Fujii was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in the 1977 election as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Hirohisa Fujii served as Minister of Finance in the cabinets of Morihiro Hosokawa and Tsutomu Hata, and did not substantially change the previous LDP government's financial policy objectives.

Hirohisa Fujii historically supported Ozawa in opposing any increase in the consumption tax.

Hirohisa Fujii lost his seat in the 2005 general election and planned to retire from politics.

Hirohisa Fujii initially intended to retire from the Diet following the election, and allowed another DPJ candidate to run for his district, but withdrew his resignation at the request of Yukio Hatoyama shortly before candidate lists were finalized.

The DPJ won the election in a landslide, and Hirohisa Fujii maintained a seat in the House despite being ranked only 35th on the party's candidate list.

Hirohisa Fujii was named minister of finance after the election of Hatoyama as Prime Minister in September 2009.

Shortly following his appointment, Hirohisa Fujii publicly opposed intervention to weaken the Japanese yen for the benefit of Japanese exporters, saying that other countries would be inclined to do the same thing.

Hirohisa Fujii later clarified that he did not favor a strong yen and was not pleased with its recent appreciation in value.

Hirohisa Fujii reversed his historical position on the consumption tax, and demanded the appointment of two vice ministers, Yoshihiko Noda and Naoki Minezaki, who were in favor of raising it.

Hirohisa Fujii abruptly announced his resignation as finance minister on 5 January 2010, and it was reluctantly accepted by Prime Minister Hatoyama a day later.

Hirohisa Fujii had been suffering from high blood pressure and exhaustion, so he claimed that his deteriorating health forced him to resign from the high-stress position of finance minister.

However, some political analysts believed that Hirohisa Fujii resigned due to his power struggle with Ozawa.

Hirohisa Fujii served in the Kan cabinet as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.

Hirohisa Fujii remained in regular contact with Noda throughout this time, but was careful to keep a low profile in doing so.

Hirohisa Fujii publicly maintained his position on yen intervention, stating in 2011 that it was more important for Japan to open its markets.

Hirohisa Fujii announced his retirement from politics at the age of 80, shortly prior to the 2012 general election.

Hirohisa Fujii died on 10 July 2022 at his home in Tokyo, aged 90.