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Naoto Kan is the
leader of the
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition party in the
Diet.
Born in
1946 in
Yamaguchi Prefecture as the son of bussinessman, Kan graduated in
1970 from the
Tokyo Institute of Technology, and
opened a patent office in
1974. He actively engaged in civic movements for years and achived a
seat in the lower house in
1980 as a member of
United Social Democratic Party (USDP).
He gained national populality in
1996 when as health minister he exposed the minister's responsibility
for the spread of tainted blood. At that time, he was a member of small
party forming the ruling government with the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). His action was completely unprecedented
and was applauded in public media. In
1998, his sex scandal forced him to step down from the leader of
newly-formed DPJ. After
Yukio Hatoyama resigned as the
leader of the party, Kan took over the position. In
July
2003, the DPJ and the
Liberal Party led by
Ichiro Ozawa agreed to form a
uniformed opposition party to prepare for the
general election that was anticipated to take place in the fall.
During the campagin of the
election of 2003, the DPJ called the election as the choice of the
government between the ruling LDP-bloc and the DPJ and Kan was presented as
the alternative candidate to then Prime Minister
Koizumi Junichiro. His face was used as the trademark of the campagin
againt the LDP.
His hobby is a
game of Go and he has a wife and two sons, and lives in
Tokyo.
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