Hirotaka Akamatsu

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Hirotaka Akamatsu

|native_name = {{nobold|赤松広隆}}

|native_name_lang = ja

|image = Hirotaka Akamatsu Nourinsuisandaijin.jpg

|imagesize = 220px

|caption = Official portrait, 2009

|office = Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan

|monarch = Akihito
Naruhito

|1blankname = Speaker

|1namedata = Tadamori Oshima

|term_start = 1 November 2017

|term_end = 14 October 2021

|predecessor = Tatsuo Kawabata

|successor = Banri Kaieda

|monarch1 = Akihito

|2blankname1 = Speaker

|2namedata1 = Bunmei Ibuki

|term_start1 = 26 December 2012

|term_end1 = 21 November 2014

|predecessor1 = Seishirō Etō

|successor1 = Tatsuo Kawabata

|office2 = Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

|primeminister2 = Yukio Hatoyama

|term_start2 = 16 September 2009

|term_end2 = 8 June 2010

|predecessor2 = Shigeru Ishiba

|successor2 = Masahiko Yamada

|office3 = Member of the House of Representatives

|constituency3 = Aichi 6th (1990–1996)
Aichi 5th (1996–2005, 2009–2012, 2014–2021)
Tōkai PR (2005–2009, 2012–2014)

|term_start3 = 18 February 1990

|term_end3 = 14 October 2021

|predecessor3 = Multi-member district

|successor3 = Kenji Kanda

|office4 = Member of the Aichi Prefectural Assembly

|constituency4 = Nagoya City Nakamura Ward

|term_start4 = 30 April 1979

|term_end4 = 26 January 1990

|predecessor4 =

|successor4 =

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|5|3|df=y}}

|birth_place = Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

|death_date =

|death_place =

|party = CDP (2017–present)

|otherparty = JSP (1966–1996)
SDP (1996)
DP 1996 (1996–1998)
DPJ (1998–2016)
DP 2016 (2016–2017)

|spouse =

|children =

|alma_mater = Waseda University

|website = {{URL|http://go-akamatsu.com/}}

}}

{{nihongo|Hirotaka Akamatsu|赤松広隆|Akamatsu Hirotaka|extra=born May 3, 1948}} is a Japanese politician from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a former minister and Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan.

Life and career

File:Hirotaka Akamatsu and James Zumwalt 20100309.jpg in 2010]]

A native of Nagoya and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the first of his three terms in the Aichi Prefectural Assembly and then to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990 as a member of the Japan Socialist Party.

He was appointed Minister of Agriculture in 2009. In April 2010, he skipped the traditional visit by legislators to Ise Jingu, opting instead to take a holiday in Mexico with his wife. While he was on vacation, Japan suffered a large outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. His response to the outbreak was widely criticized and the Ministry of Agriculture apologized on his behalf on May 31.{{cite web |url=http://www.47news.jp/CN/201005/CN2010052501000230.html |title=農相が口蹄疫問題で謝罪対応の検証方針を表明 - 47News（よんななニュース） |access-date=2012-02-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222142743/http://www.47news.jp/CN/201005/CN2010052501000230.html |archive-date=2011-12-22 }} The Hatoyama government collapsed in June and Akamatsu was not reappointed.

Akamatsu was the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives between 2012 and 2014 and again between 2017 and 2021.

References

{{cite web |url=http://www.senkyo.janjan.jp/diet/profile/0008/00008386.html |script-title=ja:政治家情報〜赤松広隆〜 |work=ザ･選挙 |publisher=JANJAN |access-date=2007-10-16 |language=ja}}