Kazuo Kitagawa

Kazuo Kitagawa is a retired Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi.

Biography

Born in Ikuno-ku, Osaka, Kitagawa graduated from Faculty of Law at Sōka University and became a lawyer. In 1990, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time and was appointed as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2004.
He was the secretary general of Komeito when the party suffered a major defeat in the 2009 Japanese general election. Komeito lost ten seats, including Kitagawa's and that of party leader Akihiro Ota. On 8 September 2009 Yoshihisa Inoue replaced Kitagawa as secretary general of Komeito. Notwithstanding the loss of his seat, Kitagawa became deputy president of the party.
Kitagawa regained his seat representing the Osaka 16th district in the 2012 general election, and held the seat in the 2014 general election. On 9 October 2024, he announced his retirement from politics and would not run in the 2024 general election.