PROFILE

KONO Taro, 60, a ninth-term Member of the House of Representatives, has been appointed Minister for Digital Transformation, Minister for Digital Reform, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety and Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform.
Among positions he has held in the past are Foreign Minister; Defense Minister; Minister in charge of COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out; Minister for Administrative Affairs; Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, or Minister in charge of the National Police Organization; Minister for Civil Service Reform; Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety; Minister for Disaster Management; and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. He is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He was Chairman of the Japan Race Horse Association and Chairman of the Shonan Bellmare Football Club, the 1995 Asia Champion Soccer Club. He is married to Kaori and has a son, Ippei.