53 Facts About Yukio Edano

Yukio Edano is a Japanese politician who served as the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan from its formation in 2017 until 2021.

Yukio Edano was elected to parliament in the 1993 Japanese general election under the Japan New Party, and served briefly in the governments of Morihiro Hosokawa, Tsutomu Hata, Tomiichi Murayama, and the first Ryutaro Hashimoto cabinet before leaving the New Party Sakigake to join the Democratic Party in 1998.

Yukio Edano then held various roles inside the party, and upon the group's landslide victory in the 2009 election, served roles in all three opposition cabinets.

Yukio Edano was a major part of the response to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Yukio Edano was born in Utsunomiya on 31 May 1964, into a salary-man family.

Yukio Edano is named after Japanese progressive liberal political figure Yukio Ozaki, who Edano's father admired.

Yukio Edano attended Utsunomiya City Mine Elementary School and Utsunomiya City Yoto Junior High School, serving as the student council president at both.

Yukio Edano graduated from Tohoku University with a degree in law, and passed the Japanese bar examination at the age of 24.

Yukio Edano, who had found a job in Tokyo as a lawyer, found himself drawn to Hosokawa's words of idealism and anti-corruption, as Yukio Edano had maintained an interest in politics since he was young.

Yukio Edano placed second but was still elected, falling slightly behind Kiyoshi Ueda.

Yukio Edano became a member of the Commerce and Industry Committee, and helped to craft a Product Liability Act.

Yukio Edano voted for Tsutomu Hata in the next prime minister election, believing the LDP should be blocked from forming a government at all costs.

Yukio Edano became vice chairman of the Policy Research Group inside the NPS under Policy Research Chairman Naoto Kan.

Yukio Edano voted for confidence in the new Hashimoto cabinet, allegedly because Hashimoto himself was a member of a group of legislators who resisted removing blood products from the Product Liability Law, which would remove government accountability from them.

Yukio Edano became the leader of a bipartisan study group composed of young politicians, which was mainly seen as a networking event for politicians who had their eye on joining the new Democratic Party.

Yukio Edano played a role in investigating the HIV tainted blood scandal beginning in 1995, when he was contacted by the plaintiffs defense team and became convinced of the government's responsibility in the issue.

Yukio Edano submitted a written inquiry requesting an explanation from the Ministry at the time.

Yukio Edano participated in the formation of the Democratic Party in 1996, and ran under the party's banner in the 1996 Japanese general election.

Yukio Edano attempted to defend his seat in Saitama's 5th district in an election centered around volunteers, running against both Zenjiro Kaneko of the New Frontier Party and Nobuhiko Fukunaga of the LDP.

Yukio Edano ultimately lost in a close three-way election only decided by five points to Fukunaga, but was re-elected to the House after being placed on the Northern Kanto proportional representation block.

Yukio Edano became Policy Research Chairman of the Democratic Party in 1997, and establish the "2010 Association", a group of young politicians who criticized the clan-like nature of Japanese politics and the Social Democratic Party.

Yukio Edano was seated as vice-chairman of the party's Policy Research Group.

Yukio Edano was influential in the passage of the Financial Reconstruction Act.

Yukio Edano was named one of the most significant figures in the legislative law boom which began in the 1990s.

Yukio Edano won back his constituency in Saitama's 5th in the 2000 Japanese general election, in what was generally a success for the new Democratic Party.

Yukio Edano made two new study group's as well, mainly centered around former members of the New Party Sakigake, of which he was formerly a member.

Yukio Edano founded the Ryounkai political group in 2002 along with Seiji Maehara and Yoshito Sengoku, which mainly functioned as a conservative pressure organization inside the DP.

In December 2002, when Yukio Hatoyama resigned as party leader and Naoto Kan returned to serve as secretary, Edano was appointed as Chief Cabinet Secretary in the new Next Cabinet.

Yukio Edano announced the party's manifesto before the 2003 Japanese general election, in which he held his constituency with an expanded margin.

In 2005, despite the party's national struggle, Yukio Edano was re-elected by five points in his home constituency.

Yukio Edano gained the position of acting secretary general for the party's strategy and communication.

When, in 2006, Ichiro Ozawa was elected as the party's next representative following the resignation of Maehara, Yukio Edano announced he would be stepping away from party leadership roles.

In September 2008, Yukio Edano briefly debated running for party representative to avoid Ozawa being re-elected without a vote due to the failures of others, such as Naoto Kan to announce a challenge.

Yukio Edano gave up due to the fact he could not gain a recognition to run from another Diet member.

Yukio Edano was re-elected by a 20-point margin in the landslide 2009 Japanese general election, in which he and the Democratic Party were swept into power.

In January 2010, it was announced that Sengoku would be nominated to serve concurrently as the Minister for National Strategy, and that Yukio Edano would be appointed as the Prime Minister's Advisor to assist Sengoku.

However, Yukio Edano was never formally appointed, and it was eventually decided that he would be appointed Minister of Administrative Reform instead, relieving Sengoku of the post.

Yukio Edano led the Democratic Party through the 2010 Japanese House of Councillors election, which saw the DP's minority in the House of Councilors shrink by three seats.

Yukio Edano took on the role of the government's main spokesman on the response to both events, beginning to report on recovery every single day.

In November 2011, the Ryounkai group re-organized, with Yukio Edano now becoming secretary-general and Maehara beginning to serve as Chairman of the organization.

Yukio Edano spoke about the development of both the Oma Nuclear Power Plant and Shimane Nuclear Power Plant, whose constructions were both halted after the earthquake in 2011.

Yukio Edano effectively conveyed his want to resume the construction of the Shimane Power Plant later that year.

In September 2012, Yukio Edano approved the resumption of construction in Shimane, and, in October, the Oma Power Plant was given the go-ahead to resume construction as well.

Yukio Edano was named secretary general of the DPJ in September 2014.

Yukio Edano again held his single seat in the 2014 election, but by a much slimmer two points.

Yukio Edano joined the new party and remained as secretary-general following the merger as well.

Maehara's proposal was accepted, and Yukio Edano briefly thought that the merger would work.

Around the same time, other candidates who had been rejected were requesting a new party to form for liberals, and rumors began to spread on the internet of Yukio Edano becoming the presumptive leader of a possible new party.

Also that morning, Yukio Edano visited RENGO Headquarters and met with President Rikio Kozu, explaining the situation and his plans to form a new party.

Yukio Edano collected 27.57 million yen in the 20 days between announcing the establishment of the party and the election, which was widely considered an outstanding amount compared to that of his past amounts and even Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's.

Yukio Edano released a revised version of the "Edano Vision", a manifesto he published when he served as party leader, in August 2023.

Yukio Edano has described himself as both liberal and conservative, believing the labels do not conflict with one another.

Yukio Edano personally considers himself a "mainstream conservative", still reportedly saying to former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama that he will "form another liberal government while you're still well".