1. Sadakazu Tanigaki is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2017, as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006, as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2009 to 2012, as Minister of Justice from 2012 to 2014, and as LDP Secretary-General from 2014 to 2016.
Sadakazu Tanigaki was only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously Prime Minister of Japan.
Sadakazu Tanigaki retired from politics following a spinal cord injury in 2016 that saw him using a wheelchair.
Sadakazu Tanigaki graduated from the faculty of law at the University of Tokyo in 1974, and worked as a secretary for his father, who was the then minister of education.
Sadakazu Tanigaki went on to pass the Japanese bar examination in 1979, specializing in tax law, and he registered as an attorney in 1982 after completing his legal training.
Sadakazu Tanigaki moved to Kyoto to run for his father's seat.
Sadakazu Tanigaki briefly headed the Science and Technology Agency in 1997.
Since 2002, Sadakazu Tanigaki has led a minor faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, formerly part of the Kochikai faction, with 11 members in the lower house and 4 in the upper house.
Sadakazu Tanigaki declared his candidacy for the LDP presidency on July 28,2006, but came in third place in a three-way race against Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso.
Sadakazu Tanigaki was viewed as the "moderate" candidate in the race, mainly due to his foreign policy views: unlike Abe and Aso, he stated that he would not continue visits to Yasukuni Shrine if he became prime minister, which made him a more attractive candidate among LDP leaders who sought better relations with Chinese and Korean leadership.
Sadakazu Tanigaki is affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, which advocates visits of Prime Ministers to the controversial shrine.
On 24 September 2007, Sadakazu Tanigaki was named chief policymaker of the LDP by newly elected party president Yasuo Fukuda.
Sadakazu Tanigaki was appointed as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on 1 August 2008.
Sadakazu Tanigaki had expected to be re-elected as LDP head unopposed in 2012, but former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and several others suggested that they could run against him.
Sadakazu Tanigaki lost the party election to Abe on 26 September 2012.
Abe appointed Sadakazu Tanigaki to serve as LDP Secretary-General in September 2014, placing Sadakazu Tanigaki in charge of the party's campaign strategy.
Sadakazu Tanigaki agreed not to stand against Abe in the 2015 LDP leadership election despite their intense personal rivalry and differing political philosophies.
Sadakazu Tanigaki injured his spinal cord in a bicycle accident in July 2016, and remained hospitalized as of September 2017.
Sadakazu Tanigaki stayed out of the public eye during his hospitalization, and was rumored to be planning a comeback to politics as of mid-2017, but decided not to run in the 2017 general election due to his physical condition.
Sadakazu Tanigaki made his first public appearance after the accident in October 2018, and addressed the Liberal Democratic Party Convention from a wheelchair in February 2019.