Akazawa Ryosei (赤沢 亮正 / koseki 赤澤 亮正, Akazawa Ryōsei) is a Japanese Liberal Democratic Party politician and the incumbent Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appointed him on 21 October 2025; he was reappointed 18 February 2026 after winning an eighth House of Representatives term.
He is the bureaucrat-turned-Diet man from Tottori 2nd district (western Tottori: Yonago, Sakaiminato, Kurayoshi belt) who spent ~20 years at the Ministry of Transport / MLIT, took a Cornell MBA, entered the Diet in Koizumi’s 2005 “assassin” election, sat in Shigeru Ishiba’s circle, first entered Cabinet under Ishiba (Oct 2024) as economic-revitalisation / keizai-zaisei minister, then slid sideways to METI when Takaichi took the Kantei.
As of METI’s 2 April 2026 Japanese profile he also holds: nuclear economic-damage, GX (green transformation), industrial competitiveness, stable supply of critical materials under the Middle East situation (from 30 March 2026), and Minister of State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDF). He is listed around No. 5 in the acting-PM order.
Wiki / Quick Facts
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Name (common) | 赤沢 亮正 (Akazawa Ryōsei) |
| Family-register kanji | 赤澤 亮正 |
| English | Ryosei Akazawa / Akazawa Ryosei (METI style: family name last in JP bios, first in EN “AKAZAWA Ryosei”) |
| Born | 18 December 1960 (Showa 35) |
| Age (2026) | 65 |
| Birthplace | Bunkyō, Tokyo |
| Registered / political home | Yonago, Tottori (grandfather’s base) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Party | Liberal Democratic Party (Ishiba group → unaffiliated / no faction) |
| Diet | House of Representatives, Tottori 2nd · 8 terms (first win Sep 2005; 8th Feb 2026) |
| Education | University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law, Class I (private-law track), Mar 1984 · MBA, Cornell University Johnson / GSM, 1991 (enrolled ~1989) |
| School often listed | University of Tsukuba Komaba High School (secondary bios) |
| Pre-politics | Transport / MLIT career official (~1984–2005); Japan Post overseas logistics |
| Current job | METI Minister (33rd–34th) + concurrent GX / nuclear / competitiveness / Expo (until Expo wind-down) / Middle East materials / NDF |
| PM | Sanae Takaichi (1st cabinet 21 Oct 2025 · 2nd from Feb 2026) |
| Predecessor (METI) | Yoji Muto |
| Previous cabinet | Ishiba I–II: Economic Revitalization, New Capitalism, Wages, Start-ups, all-generation social security, infectious-disease crisis, Disaster Management Agency prep, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy (1 Oct 2024 – 21 Oct 2025) |
| Grandfather | Akazawa Masamichi (赤沢正道) — former Minister of Home Affairs (Jichi) |
| Official site | https://www.ryosei-akazawa.com/ |
| METI profile | meti.go.jp minister EN · JP |
| Shugiin EN | e007.htm |
Early life & education
Born 18 December 1960 in Bunkyō Ward, Tokyo, into a family whose political capital sat in Tottori. Grandfather Masamichi Akazawa had been Home Affairs minister — the reason a Tokyo-born Todai bureaucrat could later run Tottori 2.
March 1984: Law, University of Tokyo (Class I).
April 1984: Joined the Ministry of Transport.
~1989–1991: Cornell MBA (US).
Secondary write-ups also name Komaba High School attached to University of Tsukuba.
Bureaucrat years (~1984–2005)
Transport → MLIT after the 2001 ministry merger. Publicly listed posts:
- Assistant director, International Aviation, Aviation Bureau (US–Japan aviation talks, Aug 1994)
- Earlier: consumer admin, elderly/disabled transport (1992)
- Hokkaido government: traffic-measures chief (Apr 1996), later traffic-planning room
- Planning officer, Minister’s Secretariat documents / secretarial / general-policy–international desks (1999–2002)
- Japan Post Corporation: Director-General, Overseas Projects / international logistics strategy (2004–05)
He left the service in 2005 to run for the Diet.
Political career
Sep 2005 (44th HR): Koizumi’s postal-privatisation snap poll. LDP sent him as “assassin” against incumbent Yoshihiro Kawakami (who had voted against privatisation) in Tottori 2. Akazawa won. Joined the 83-kai of first-term Koizumi children.
Re-elected 2009, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2024 (50th), Feb 2026 (51st) — eight times. Long-time local rival: Shunji Yuhara (DPJ/CDP line).
Party / Diet jobs: LDP Land-Infrastructure division director; deputy Diet Affairs; deputy General Council; acting PARC chair (Sep 2022); Tax Commission secretary; HR Environment Committee chair (2016); HR Special Committee on Nuclear Issues chair (Nov 2021).
Sub-cabinet:
- Parliamentary Vice-Minister, MLIT (2nd Abe, Dec 2012)
- State Minister, Cabinet Office (2nd Abe reshuffle Sep 2014; 3rd Abe Dec 2014 — finance agency, consumer, ocean/territory, abductees, food safety, women, children, admin/reg reform)
- State Minister, Cabinet Office (Suga, Sep 2020 — disaster, COVID, finance, economic-fiscal, growth, social security, territory)
- State Minister of Finance (2nd Kishida 2nd reshuffle, Nov 2023, after Kenji Kanda’s tax-scandal exit)
Ishiba line: He was a core Ishiba-group member, then no-faction. Under Ishiba he was treated as a Kantei insider (room in the Prime Minister’s Office, meeting frequency compared to deputy chiefs cabinet). He sat in US–Japan trade talks in that period.
21 Oct 2025: Ishiba cabinet resigns; Takaichi names him METI minister (and GX / nuclear-economy / competitiveness / Expo / NDF). US Commerce contacts reportedly congratulated him.
Dec 2024/25: short hospital stay for a minor operation; Minoru Kiuchi / Jōnouchi covered as acting METI in Japanese press notes.
8 Feb 2026: 8th HR win. 18 Feb 2026: reappointed in 2nd Takaichi cabinet.
30 Mar 2026: extra hat — critical-materials supply amid Middle East energy risk.
What METI minister actually owns
Japan’s economy + industry + energy + trade super-ministry: semiconductors, autos, GX / carbon pricing, nuclear restart & Fukushima compensation/decommission, Expo follow-through, export control, WTO, SME policy, and now Middle East feedstock security. He is a statutory National Security Council member.
Public talking points from his revitalisation year carried over: wages beating inflation, ¥1,500 national average minimum wage in the 2020s, start-ups, GX + industrial competitiveness — the same files Chubu manufacturers (see Chukeiren) lobby.
Family & personal
| Relation | Note |
|---|---|
| Grandfather | Akazawa Masamichi — former Home Affairs minister |
| Spouse / children | Not detailed on METI / Shugiin / official site summaries used here — do not invent |
| Faction | Ishiba study group → unaffiliated |
| Image | Soft-spoken kanryō-seijika; English from Cornell; Tottori rural brand + Kasumigaseki CV |
Interesting facts
- Two kanji: media 赤沢, family register 赤澤.
- Tokyo-born, Tottori-elected — classic hereditary-district import.
- Entered politics as a Koizumi assassin, rose as an Ishiba lieutenant, kept METI under Takaichi.
- Cornell MBA is unusual among LDP infrastructure bureaucrats.
- Eight HR wins in a small-prefecture single seat is a machine, not a fluke.
- METI EN page said “seven times” until the Feb 2026 reappointment note.
- Acting-PM rank 5 is protocol, not “he runs Japan.”
- Expo 2025 Osaka hat sat on the METI minister through the event year.
- Middle East materials portfolio (Mar 2026) is energy-security politics, not a new ministry.
- Do not confuse with other LDP Akazawa local politicians.
Contact details (official + SERP)
Diet / constituency offices first. METI switchboard is not his private mobile.
Official websites
| Personal | https://www.ryosei-akazawa.com/ · Contact form |
| METI EN bio | meti.go.jp …/aMinister.html |
| METI JP bio | profile_minister.html (updated 2 Apr 2026) |
| House of Representatives | shugiin.go.jp e007 |
| LDP Tottori | jimin-tottori.jp/giin/akazawa |
Tokyo — Diet office (Shūgiin Dai-ni Kaikan)
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | Room 1022, House of Representatives 2nd Members’ Office Building, 2-1-2 Nagatachō, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8982 |
| Direct tel | 03-3508-7490 |
| Diet board / ext. | 03-3581-5111 ext. 7490 |
| Fax | 03-3508-3370 |
Tottori — local offices (official site / LDP Tottori)
| Office | Address | Tel | Fax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yonago (main local) | 1-24 Kamo-chō, Yonago 683-0823 | 0859-38-7333 | 0859-38-0306 |
| Chūbu / Kotoura | 719 Aizuka, Kotoura-chō, Tōhaku-gun 689-2304 | 0858-52-1051 | 0858-52-1058 |
| Sakaiminato | 463-1 Age-machi, Sakaiminato 684-0033 | 0859-47-4032 | 0859-42-2865 |
METI (minister’s ministry, not a casework desk)
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8901 |
| Main tel | +81-3-3501-1511 |
| Web | https://www.meti.go.jp/ · EN https://www.meti.go.jp/english/ |
| Minister questions | Via METI public-relations / press club — not the Yonago phone |
Social media (SERP-verified politician pages)
| Platform | URL |
|---|---|
| Website | ryosei-akazawa.com |
| X / Twitter | https://twitter.com/ryosei_akazawa · @ryosei_akazawa |
| https://www.facebook.com/akazawa.ryosei/ | |
| https://www.instagram.com/akazawa_ryosei/ | |
| METI | Ministry channels, not personal |
| YouTube | Search his name; no single must-cite official channel in the directories above |
FAQs
Q. Who is Japan’s METI minister now?
Akazawa Ryosei, since 21 October 2025 (Takaichi); reappointed 18 February 2026.
Q. Age / birthday?
Born 18 December 1960 (Tokyo); 65 in 2026.
Q. Constituency?
Tottori 2nd (Yonago etc.), LDP, 8 terms.
Q. Ishiba or Takaichi man?
Both timelines: Ishiba’s economic minister, then Takaichi’s METI minister.
Q. How do I write to him?
Constituency: Yonago 0859-38-7333 or the contact form. Policy/press: METI 03-3501-1511. Diet: 03-3508-7490.
Q. Same as Keidanren / Chukeiren?
No. He is a cabinet minister. Those are business federations.
Suggested CMS meta
- Title: Akazawa Ryosei – METI Minister Wiki, Age, Career, Tottori Offices & Contact
- Slug:
/akazawa-ryosei-meti-minister - Meta description: StarsUnfolded biography of Japan METI Minister Akazawa Ryosei: Todai–Cornell, Tottori 2, Ishiba to Takaichi, GX and nuclear hats, official phones and SNS.
- Category: Politicians / Japan / Cabinet
- Tags: Akazawa Ryosei, 赤沢亮正, METI, Takaichi, Ishiba, Tottori
Disclaimer
Compiled August 2026 from METI official minister profiles (EN 19 Feb 2026 / JP 2 Apr 2026), House of Representatives English member page, ryosei-akazawa.com, LDP Tottori, Simple English / Japanese Wikipedia summaries and SERPs. Cabinet hats change in reshuffles. Eighth-term count is post-Feb 2026. Do not publish a personal mobile that is not on his site.
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