Former Internal Affairs Min. Katayama Dies at 90

Tokyo, Dec. 18 (Jiji Press)–Former Japanese internal affairs minister Toranosuke Katayama, who served as co-chief of the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai), died of old age at a hospital in Tokyo on Thursday. He was 90. Katayama, a native of Okayama Prefecture in western Japan, was first elected to the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, or parliament, in 1989, when he ran in the Okayama constituency as a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as internal affairs minister and secretary-general of the LDP in the Upper House before losing his seat in the 2007 Upper House election. Katayama left the LDP in 2010 and successfully ran as a candidate from the now-defunct Sunrise Party of Japan in that year’s Upper House race. He later joined the JIP’s predecessor. As the oldest member of the upper chamber, he was known for voicing his opinions during parliamentary questioning. He retired from politics after deciding not to run in the 2022 election, serving a total of five terms in the Upper House. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from the government in 2023. JIP Upper House lawmaker Daisuke Katayama is his second son. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]