Hiroya Masuda

File:Yoichi Masuzoe Yasuo Fukuda and Hiroya Masuda 20071019.jpg and Ministers of State in 2007]]

Masuda was born in Tokyo in 1951, and graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1977. He joined the Ministry of Construction after graduation, and was thereafter appointed to several management positions in the Japanese government, including Director of the Traffic Enforcement Division at Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters (1982), Director of the Railway Traffic Division for Ibaraki Prefecture (1986), Director for River Administration Policy Planning at the Ministry of Construction (1993), and Director for Construction Disputes Settlement at the Ministry of Construction (1994).{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Minister of State for Decentralization Reform, Regional Revitalization, Regional Government (doshu-sei) Hiroya MASUDA|url=https://japan.kantei.go.jp/hukudadaijin/080802/02masuda_e.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-02|website=}}

Masuda served as governor of Iwate Prefecture from 1995 to 2007. Upon his election, he was the youngest governor in Japanese history at the age of 43.{{Cite web|last=Aoki|first=Mizuho|date=2016-07-10|title=Former interior minister Masuda to run for Tokyo governor on LDP ticket|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/10/national/politics-diplomacy/former-interior-minister-masuda-run-tokyo-governor-ldp-ticket/|access-date=2020-09-02|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}} While serving as Iwate's governor, Masuda developed a reputation as a reformist by cutting spending through personnel cuts and took the initiative in introducing an industrial waste tax system.

Masuda implemented a nationwide public relations campaign starting in 2001 that branded Iwate as a slower, "no effort" lifestyle alternative to Tokyo and other major cities. The campaign was popular locally, and Masuda was re-elected in 2003 with 88% of votes cast.{{Cite news|last=Moffett|first=Sebastian|date=2004-06-30|title=It Didn't Succeed, So Iwate Prefecture Decided to Give Up|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB108854739766750864|access-date=2020-09-02|issn=0099-9660}}

File:Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet 20070926.jpg in 2007]]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Masuda to head the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2007. Shortly after his appointment, he admitted mishandling a 1 million yen donation to his gubernatorial campaign in 2003.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2007-09-09|title=Internal affairs minister admits fund report error|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/09/09/national/internal-affairs-minister-admits-fund-report-error/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-02|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}} Japan's postal service was privatized under Masuda's watch in October 2007.{{Cite web|date=2020-01-06|title=New Japan Post Chief Vows to Restore Trust after Scandal|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2020010600470/new-japan-post-chief-vows-to-restore-trust-after-scandal.html|access-date=2020-09-02|website=nippon.com|language=en}}

He was reappointed as Minister of Internal Affairs when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda reshuffled the cabinet on August 1, 2008.Japan Times, "Fukuda's new lineup", 3 August 2008, Pg. 3. In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on September 24, 2008, Masuda was replaced by Kunio Hatoyama.[http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080925TDY01303.htm "Aso elected premier / Announces Cabinet lineup himself; poll likely on Nov. 2"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928200407/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080925TDY01303.htm |date=28 September 2008 }}, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 25 September 2008.

Masuda served as chairman of the government's postal privatization committee from 2013 to 2016. In this role, he gradually relaxed limits on deposits and life insurance policies at Japan Post, resisting political pressure from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to relax these limits more quickly.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=26 December 2015|title=Deposit, insurance limits to rise amid LDP pressure|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Deposit-insurance-limits-to-rise-amid-LDP-pressure|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-02|website=Nikkei Asian Review|language=en-GB}}

Masuda wrote a 2013 article in Chuo Koron magazine arguing that growth in Tokyo was leading to population decay in other regions of Japan, further describing Tokyo as a "population black hole" due to the difficulty of raising children there.{{cite news|title=VOX POPULI: Can one-time champion of rural Japan downsize Tokyo?|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607070028.html|access-date=15 July 2016|work=Asahi Shimbun|date=7 July 2016}} Political and corporate leaders in Japan were jolted by the conclusions of a 2014 book by Masuda called Local Extinctions, a detailed report of population changes that used the latest official figures from the National Institution of Population and Social Security Research to show that 896 cities, towns and villages throughout Japan were facing extinction by 2040. At first glance, the book simply repeated what earlier reports had concluded; however, it also included the percentages by which child-bearing women between the ages of 20 and 40 were expected to decline in each and every city, town and village.{{Cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/16/national/social-issues/japan-becoming-extinct/|title=Is Japan becoming extinct?|first=Eric|last=Johnston|date=May 16, 2015|via=Japan Times Online}}

Masuda was approached in 2016 by twenty-one of the twenty-three Tokyo ward mayors to run for Governor of Tokyo in the July 2016 election.{{cite news|title=Tokyo ward mayors ask Masuda to run |url=http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003057841 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704113021/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003057841 |url-status = dead|archive-date=4 July 2016 |access-date=15 July 2016 |work=The Japan News |agency=Jiji Press |date=4 July 2016 }} The Tokyo branch of the Liberal Democratic Party threw its official support behind Masuda, warning members that they would be reprimanded if they supported rival Yuriko Koike (also an LDP member).{{cite news|title=Discord in Tokyo gov. poll|url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003075635|access-date=15 July 2016|work=The Japan News|agency=Yomiuri Shimbun|date=13 July 2016}}

Masuda was appointed as President and CEO of Japan Post Holdings in January 2020 in the wake of a scandal related to improper sales of insurance products.{{Cite web|date=2019-12-26|title=Former minister Hiroya Masuda to lead Japan Post after insurance scandal|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/26/business/corporate-business/former-minister-hiroya-masuda-lead-japan-post-insurance-scandal/|access-date=2020-09-02|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}} He had previously turned down an offer to head the company in 2019, but said that he decided to accept out of a sense of duty.{{Cite web|title=Japan Post's New CEO Puts Growth Aside to Fix Scandal-Hit Group|url=https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/japan-post-s-new-ceo-puts-growth-aside-to-fix-scandal-hit-group|access-date=2020-09-02|website=BloombergQuint|language=en}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.h-masuda.net}} {{in lang|ja}}

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{{s-bef|before=Yoshihide Suga}}

{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan | years=2007 – 2008}}

{{s-aft|after=Kunio Hatoyama}}

{{s-bef|rows=2|before=Yoshihide Suga}}

{{s-ttl|rows=2|title=Minister of State for Decentralisation Reform, Regional Revitalization, Regional Government of Japan| years=2007 – 2008}}

{{s-aft|after=Kunio Hatoyama|as=Minister of State for Decentralisation Reform}}

{{s-non|reason=Office abolished|reason2=State for Regional Revitalization, Regional Government}}

{{s-bef|before=Iwao Kudō}}

{{s-ttl|title=Governor of Iwate| years=1995 – 2007}}

{{s-aft|after=Takuya Tasso}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masuda, Hiroya}}

Category:1951 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Setagaya

Category:Politicians from Tokyo

Category:University of Tokyo alumni

Category:Ministers of internal affairs of Japan

Category:Governors of Iwate Prefecture

Category:Tokyo gubernatorial candidates