119 Facts About Taro Kono

Taro Kono is a Japanese politician who served as the Minister for Digital Transformation from 2022 to 2024.

Taro Kono is a member of the House of Representatives representing Kanagawa's 15th district since 1996.

Taro Kono returned to government in 2017 as Foreign Minister under Abe.

Taro Kono's tenure oversaw a trade dispute with South Korea and deepening of ties with the United States.

Taro Kono returned to his prior role as the Administrative Reform Minister, organizing Japan's vaccine rollout in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suga supported Taro Kono to replace him as party president in the 2021 LDP leadership election, losing to Fumio Kishida in a second round run-off.

Taro Kono subsequently resigned as Digital Affairs Minister and has since continued as a backbencher in the Diet.

Taro Kono has developed a reputation as a political maverick, with a tendency to hold positions on issues contrary to his party.

Taro Kono favors a strong national defense, strengthening alliances with the US and Canada, as well as Pacific partners like Australia and South Korea, and is a proponent of the concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

Taro Kono is known for his large following on social media and his fluency in English.

Taro Kono has long been speculated as a potential future prime minister, running for party leadership three times.

Taro Kono was born on 10 January 1963, in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, the oldest of the three children of Yohei Kono, a former President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Taro Kono was born into a family of politicians: his father, his grandfather Ichiro Kono, and his great-uncle Kenzo Kono, were all active in Japanese politics.

Taro Kono attended Hanamizu Elementary School, Keio Middle School, and then Keio Senior High School.

Taro Kono worked for then Representative Richard Shelby of Alabama for two years.

Taro Kono later said his visits abroad helped him see Japan "in an objective way".

Taro Kono graduated from Georgetown University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and the following year he joined Fuji Xerox.

Taro Kono moved to Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific in Singapore in 1991.

Taro Kono was first elected to the House of Representatives of Japan as a Liberal Democratic member in the October 1996 general election, at age 33.

Taro Kono won a closely contested election in the newly created Kanagawa 15th district covering the cities of Hiratsuka and Chigasaki, adjacent to his father's constituency in the Kanagawa 17th district.

Taro Kono has since been re-elected six times in 2000,2003,2005,2009,2012 and 2014, respectively.

Taro Kono's winning majority increased from 13,297 in 1996 to 63,058 in 2000,71,968 in 2003, and 103,280 in 2005.

In October 2002, Taro Kono was named Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.

Taro Kono resigned from this position two months later in protest over the Iraq War, accusing Foreign Minister Kawaguchi of not adequately explaining the government's policy.

Taro Kono was the Acting Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Committee until November 2003 and was one of the few members of the LDP to oppose the dispatch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.

Taro Kono was the youngest Prefectural Chairman in the LDP.

In 2004, Taro Kono co-sponsored the Economic Sanction Amendment to the Foreign Exchange Law, which gives the government power to unilaterally declare economic sanctions on any state; and the Port Closure Bill, which allows the government to refuse the entry of foreign ships from Japanese ports.

Taro Kono resigned as head of the Kanagawa LDP following the 2007 local elections, in which the LDP-supported candidate Tadashi Sugino lost to incumbent Shigefumi Matsuzawa.

Taro Kono became head of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in September 2008.

Taro Kono ran for President of the LDP in 2009, but was defeated by Sadakazu Tanigaki.

Taro Kono replaced Hiroyuki Sonoda as Deputy Secretary-General of the LDP in April 2010, after Sonoda left the party to join the Sunrise Party of Japan.

In October 2015, Taro Kono joined the Third Abe Cabinet as Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Minister in charge of Administrative Reform, Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Minister of State for Regulatory Reform and Minister of State for Disaster Management.

Taro Kono left government amidst a cabinet reshuffle in August 2016.

Taro Kono was chosen over Katsunobu Kato, after lengthy deliberation, for his superior English ability and his grasp of international issues, despite having a reputation as an outspoken and sometimes "eccentric" politician.

Foreign media reports considered Taro Kono to be more dovish compared to Abe, and expected him to take a softer diplomatic approach to foreign policy.

Many analysts were particularly optimistic that Taro Kono would adopt his father's friendly attitude toward China.

Later that month, Taro Kono visited the United States where he called for ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which the US has not yet ratified.

Taro Kono publicly urged countries to cut diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea following the announcement of enhanced sanctions by the US government in September 2017.

Taro Kono reportedly pressed Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif to increase Iranian pressure on North Korea.

Late in the evening of 15 April 2018 in the flurry of exchanges after the tripartite missile strikes on Syria, Taro Kono received the first official visit from the Chinese counterpart since November 2009.

Taro Kono was the first Japanese FM to host an official Chinese FM visit for nearly a decade,.

Some Foreign Ministry officials say the appointment of Taro Kono will be viewed favorably by China and South Korea.

Taro Kono is known as a leading figure of cancellation of Aegis ashore project.

On 11 September 2019, Taro Kono was appointed Minister of Defense by Abe, joining his Fourth Cabinet in its second reshuffle.

In November 2019, Taro Kono met with Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds, and consolidated a series of new measures designed to deepen the defense cooperation between both countries.

Taro Kono's visit was part of the inaugural foreign and defense ministerial dialogue between India and Japan, which aimed to give further momentum to their special strategic partnership.

Taro Kono said it was part of an effort to monitor and counter threats to the Japan's satellites.

Taro Kono attributed the cancellation of the deployment to cost and technical issues.

Taro Kono was reportedly upset with officials who had not learned of the flaws with the missile system sooner.

Later that month, Taro Kono oversaw an aerial inspection of the islands.

The day after he took office, Taro Kono opened a suggestion box for administrative reform on his official website.

One comment was the complete free use of highways for ambulances, at the request of Gunma Prefecture Governor Ichita Yamamoto, but there were concerns that this would lead to an increase in the burden on each ministry and agency, an issue that Taro Kono himself had raised.

Taro Kono was responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and other relevant government agencies, as well as pharmaceutical companies, medical associations, pharmaceutical wholesalers, and logistics companies.

Taro Kono became known as Japan's "Vaccine Czar" during his tenure, a name he embraced when facing questions in the Diet.

That same day, Taro Kono announced his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party Presidency in the subsequent 2021 leadership election.

Japanese media reported that Taro Kono was Suga's first choice for a successor.

Taro Kono faced backlash for blocking his critics on Twitter during the election cycle.

Taro Kono stated that this was an attempt to protect himself from online abuse.

The hashtag "Blocked by Mr Taro Kono" was trending as a result.

Kishida subsequently appointed Taro Kono to be the LDP's Public Relations chief on 1 October 2021 and resigned from the cabinet 3 days later, ending his tenure as Minister for Administrative Reform.

Taro Kono said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the assassination.

On 10 August 2022, Taro Kono was appointed as the Minister for Digital Transformation.

Taro Kono was concurrently appointed as the Minister of State for Digital Reform, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety and Minister of State for the National Civil Service System.

Shortly after his appointment, Taro Kono attempted to revive the My Number identification card system, established in 2016.

Reportedly, the Kishida government aimed to have almost all residents obtain the card by March 2023; Taro Kono said that health insurance cards would be phased out in 2024, and instead be merged with the My Number cards.

Mistakes attributed to human error that were made before Taro Kono's tenure caused some 7,000 My Number accounts have been wrongly linked to other people's data.

Taro Kono defended the system, and said he himself used a My Number card for his health insurance, but public trust in the project weakened.

In July 2023, Kishida announced that the Personal Information Protection Commission would conduct investigation into the Digital Agency, prompting Taro Kono to apologize to the Diet.

In September 2022, Taro Kono "declared war" on floppy disks, as part of his efforts to modernize the government.

Taro Kono said updated regulations would allow business owners and others to use online services instead.

On 28 June 2024, Taro Kono declared victory in the "war", announcing that the government had finally phased them out, and would no longer require them as a form of documentation.

Taro Kono has aimed to phase out the use of hanko stamps and fax machines in the government.

Taro Kono later said during a press conference that he had been waiting 28 years to become prime minister.

Taro Kono reportedly told him he would run with or without his support.

Taro Kono became the first sitting Cabinet minister to announce.

Taro Kono acknowledged that his "record on reform" would be put to the test during the election.

The day after Kono's press conference, Taro Aso told faction members that he would personally back Kono, but would allow members to support other candidates.

In January 2025, it was announced that Taro Kono was launching a study group focused on reforms to social security and welfare on 13 February.

Taro Kono is commonly dubbed as a political "maverick" and known for expressing his views on politically sensitive issues.

Unlike former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and most of their respective cabinet ministers, Taro Kono is not affiliated with the ultraconservative organization Nippon Kaigi.

Taro Kono supports legalising same-sex marriage and allowing married couples to have separate surnames.

Taro Kono established a House subcommittee on genetically modified organisms in 1997 and supported new labeling rules on GMOs.

Taro Kono has said that he would not visit Yasukuni Shrine if he was ever made prime minister, although he visits the shrine at present because he has relatives who died in the war.

Taro Kono believes that the best way for Japan to limit political backlash from their surrounding neighbors is to build a new shrine, "Taro Kono said he supported building a new national memorial to honor the war dead, saying it would make it easier for the Emperor and the prime minister to pay their respects".

Taro Kono believes that building a new shrine will de-escalate tension from Japan's neighbors over Japan's prime minister visiting the current shrine, which honors 14 Class-A-War criminals.

Taro Kono stated that the start of the new Reiwa Japanese era name and the coming 2020 Summer Olympics to be held in Japan provide timely opportunities for initiating a reversal.

Taro Kono opposes the government's nuclear policy, especially plans to pursue the nuclear fuel cycle and to build new power stations.

Taro Kono specifically opposed Government plans to build new nuclear reactors.

Taro Kono believes Japan needs to be more prudent about the dangers of nuclear energy in the aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Explosion by limiting the number of years already operational nuclear stations are free to operate, "Taro Kono has said he wants Japan to commit to phasing out nuclear power by shutting down reactors when they reach 40 years of service, contrasting the government's policy of maintaining its nuclear reactors as a core energy source".

Taro Kono believes that nuclear explosions and contamination are not the only dangers that result from Japan's reliance on nuclear energy: "We've been depending on the nuclear energy so much,".

On 7 October 2015, he was asked at his inaugural news conference whether he would retain his criticism of Abe's nuclear policy, Taro Kono said he was "going in the same direction" as his boss.

Taro Kono has supported raising the consumption tax rate to 8 percent, with the funds to be directed towards the National Pension.

Taro Kono argued that under the current succession rules it would be difficult to allure any potential bride for the male heir, who would face enormous psychological pressure to become pregnant with a boy.

Taro Kono is considered to be an Asia-Centrist and has strong and friendly ties with the United States.

Taro Kono has long been an emphatic proponent of reinvigorating the alliance between South Korea and Japan, stating "We need an Asia-Centric policy that considers at the same time Japan's national interests and the interests of surrounding nations, and the focus of that is between Japan and Korea".

Taro Kono is on record as saying, "I understand the problem as one in which Korea and Japan must pool their strength so that they might survive in the changing global environment".

Taro Kono has taken several steps to forging a more vigorous relationship between Japan and Korea.

Taro Kono co-sponsored a bill which now allows direct air service between Gimpo, South Korea and Haneda airport in Tokyo.

Taro Kono still believes there is much more work to be done to help generate more commerce between the two nations.

Taro Kono is the only Japanese lawmaker who runs a Korean webpage, and provides internships to Korean nationals.

Taro Kono has neither endorsed nor rejected his father's famous Taro Kono Statement, which acknowledged the Japanese military's use of comfort women during World War II.

Taro Kono opposes donation of development aid to any countries that have failed to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Taro Kono is married to Kaori, a returnee who had studied in Australia.

In 2002, when his father, Yohei Taro Kono, fell ill from a chronic hepatitis C infection, Taro Kono offered a part of his liver for donation.

Taro Kono has since supported changes to the law regarding organ donation.

Taro Kono is a fan of Shonan Bellmare, a professional football club based in his home town of Hiratsuka, west of Kanagawa.

Taro Kono was chairman of the team between 2000 and 2005, and has been credited with returning the team to the top division.

Additionally, Taro Kono has been involved in a number of bodies managing professional sports.

Taro Kono is Chairman of the Japan Race Horse Association, which organizes Japan's largest yearling sales.

Taro Kono is President of the Kanagawa Triathlon Union, the Kanagawa Track and Field Association, and the Hiratsuka Baseball Association.

Taro Kono was named the Honorary Chairman of the Japan Durian Promotion Association when it was established in January 2020.

Taro Kono is known for wearing suspenders and carrying a purple briefcase; TIME magazine described Kono as a "lovable eccentric" in 2023.

Taro Kono is known for his prolific use of Twitter, where he has 2.5 million followers on his Japanese account as of 2024.

On 27 November 2023, Taro Kono was reprimanded for attempting to use a smartphone to answer questions during committee deliberations.

Taro Kono was attempting to respond to a question posed by House of Councilors member Kiyomi Tsujimoto of the CDP concerning the identity of the Foreign Minister in March 2019, when he was told to put his phone away by Shinsuke Suematsu, the chair of the committee.

Taro Kono was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 1996 general election, representing Kanagawa 15th district, at the age of thirty-three years old.

Taro Kono is a very popular candidate winning Kanagawa's 15th district seat in nine consecutive elections.

In 2014, Taro Kono received 155,388 votes, which yielded him 68 percent of the vote in his district.

Nevertheless, Taro Kono received a large number of votes and won elections by sweeping margins.