Taku Yamasaki

Who is Taku Yamasaki?

Taku Yamasaki is a Japanese politician, a member of the House of Representatives of Japan. Born in Dalian, Manchukuo, he is a graduate of Waseda University. He worked at Bridgestone.

He lost his vision in one eye in childhood.

As a Diet member, he served as Minister of Construction, and Director General of the Defense Agency. He was a member of the "YKK" faction with Kōichi Katō and Jun'ichirō Koizumi. Yamasaki was also the leader of a small faction that bore his name. In November 2000, along with Kōichi Katō, Yamasaki was heavily involved in the failed intraparty coup against Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori. He became Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party in 2001, and the Vice-President of the LDP in 2003.

In the 2003 election Yamasaki was defeated by Jun'ichirō Koga of the Democratic Party. He subsequently resigned from the vice-presidency of the LDP and took on the role of a political advisor.

In 2005, re-elected to the House of Representatives by-election on Fukuoka Prefecture 2nd Electoral District and Chiefship, Special Committee on Postal Privatization.