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We held a seminar on learning from the past, led by former Minister of International Trade and Industry and Chief Advisor to the Tokyo branch of the Liberal Democratic Party, Takashi Fukaya.
In this Onkochishinjuku, we divided Fukaya Sensei's life from his birth to the present into four periods, and looked back on events happening in Japan and the world at each period in a dialogue with Tokushinkai Group Chairman Matsumura. This is the final installment of the series, and we asked him to look back on the period from the beginning of the Heisei era to his retirement from politics in 4.

Professor Fukaya first joined the Cabinet as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in 1990. Since then, he has held a number of important positions, including Minister of Home Affairs, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Minister of International Trade and Industry, and Chairman of the General Council of the Liberal Democratic Party. At the heart of the nation, he has confronted many events that have shaken the times, such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, the September XNUMX attacks in the United States, and the Great East Japan Earthquake.

In 2005, he received the Long Term Employment Award for his 25 years in office, and a portrait of him painted by Aki Yashiro was hung in the Diet. In 2010, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor. Although he retired from politics in 2012, he continued to be one of the few "storytellers" of the prewar, wartime, and postwar period, actively participating in lectures and other events, and working hard to train the next generation of people.

Professor Fukaya says, "Even as the sunflower withers, it emits boundless, powerful energy before returning to the earth. I want to live out my natural life in that way." Looking back on his childhood, student days, and time as a politician, Professor Fukaya's way of life has always been one of boundless energy, and this Onkochishinjuku has taught me a great deal.


※The next ceremony will be the graduation ceremony for this term, and the Onkochishinjuku will be the last. Thank you very much for your participation so far.