Kazuo Kitagawa

Kazuo Kitagawa (北側 一雄, Kitagawa Kazuo, born March 2, 1953) was the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Japanese Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi.
Born in Ikuno-ku, Osaka, Kitagawa graduated from Faculty of Law, Soka University and became a lawyer. In 1990, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time and since 2004 has been Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Member of New Komeito.
He was the general secretary of New Komeito when the party suffered a major defeat in the Japanese general election, 2009. New Komeito lost ten seats, including Kitagawa's and that of party leader Akihiro Ota. On 8 September 2009 Yoshihisa Inoue replaced Kitagawa as general secretary of New Komeito.