Katsunobu Kato

Kato Katsunobu (Japanese: Kato Katsunobu/Kato Katsunobu, Romanized: Katō Katsunobu, born November 22, 1955, is a politician from the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. He was born in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture. He has served as Minister of Finance, Chief Cabinet Secretary (84th generation), Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, and Minister with Special Appointments in the Cabinet Office. He has served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to the present. Belongs to the Heisei Research Society (Motegi faction) within the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare three times. His original surname was Murosaki. He changed his surname after marrying Kato Shuko, the second daughter of the Liberal Democratic Party leader Kato Jun, and becoming his son-in-law and adopted son. He has successively served as Administrative Officer to the Minister of the Cabinet Office (the first Abe reform cabinet, Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet), Special Assistant to the President of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Visiting Professor at Kawasaki University of Health and Welfare. In 2015, he was appointed as the minister in charge of the 100 million total active members, the minister in charge of women's active participation, the minister in charge of the North Korean abduction issue, the minister in charge of reconsidering the challenge, the minister in charge of land resiliency, and the cabinet office's special minister (countermeasures against low birthrate, gender-neutral participation) in the third Abe reform cabinet. On September 16, 2020, Yoshihide Suga succeeded Yoshihide Suga, who became Prime Minister, as Chief Cabinet Secretary. He resigned from office on October 4, 2021 with the resignation of Yoshihide Suga's cabinet.