Taku Yamasaki
Taku Yamasaki (山崎 æ‹";
Yamasaki Taku,
December 11,
1936 -) is a
Japanese
politician, a member of the
House of Representatives of Japan. Born in
Dalian,
Manchukuo, he was blinded in one eye as a child. He is a graduate of
Waseda University.
As a Diet member, he served as Minister of Construction, and Director General of the Defense Agency. He was a member of
YKK with
Koichi Kato and
Junichiro Koizumi. Yamasaki was also the leader of a small faction that bore his name. In November
2000, along with Koichi Kato, Yamasaki was heavily involved in the failed intraparty coup against Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori. He became Secretary-General of the
Liberal Democratic Party in
2001, and the Vice-President of the LDP in
2003.
He was frequently embroiled in sex scandals ranging from alleged
sadomasochism and adultery to rape. In the
2003 election Yamasaki was defeated by
Junichiro Koga of the
Democratic Party. He subsequently resigned from the vice-presidency of the LDP and took on the role of a political advisor.
In 2005 re-elected to the House of Representatives by-election on Fukuoka Prefecture 2nd Electoral District and Chiefship, Special Committee on Postal Privatization.
Yamasaki,
Shinzo Abe, and Foreign Minister
Taro Aso, are considered candidates to replace Koizumi after the prime minister's term expires. All three are conservative on foreign policy issues and have taken confrontational stances toward other East Asian nations, particularly
North Korea and, to a lesser extent, China. Abe is considered a more "moderate" politician than the more "hard-line" Aso, and has led Aso in opinion polling within Japan. [
1] However, Abe has stated that he might continue controversial Yasukuni shrine visits if he becomes Prime Minister. Yamasaki could be considered most "moderate" among the three as he opposes Yasukuni shrine visits by the PM.
*http://www.taku.net/profile/english.html
