Yoshihiko Noda Short biography
Yoshihiko Noda is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and Leader of the Democratic Party of Japan from 2011 to 2012. He is a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and a member of the House of Representatives (lower house) in the Diet (national legislature). Noda was born in Funabashi, Chiba, on May 20, 1957. He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in political science, and later attended the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management.
Noda began his political career in 1987 when he was elected to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. He was elected to the Diet in 1993, representing Chiba's Lower House District 4th as a member of the now-defunct Japan New Party. He later joined the DPJ and served as its Diet affairs chief as well as head of the party's public relations office.
Noda served as Minister of Finance from 2010 to 2011, and as Prime Minister from 2011 to 2012. During his time as Prime Minister, he oversaw the reconstruction effort following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and implemented a number of economic reforms, including a consumption tax increase. Noda resigned as Prime Minister in 2012 after the DPJ lost the general election.
