Kazuhiko Ōigawa
Kazuhiko Ōigawa (大井川 和彦, Ōigawa Kazuhiko, born 3 April 1964) is a politician and the current governor of Ibaraki Prefecture. A native of Tsuchiura[1] and graduate of the Law School of the University of Tokyo, he entered the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) in 1988.[1] After studying at University of Washington Law School in 1996, in 1998 he became the first head of the Singapore office for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.[1]
Kazuhiko Ōigawa | |
|---|---|
大井川 和彦 | |
 | |
| Governor of Ibaraki Prefecture | |
| Assumed office 26 September 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Masaru Hashimoto |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 April 1964 Tsuchiura, Japan |
| Political party | Independent |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
He left the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2003, and from that same year he was a Microsoft Asia Executive Officer.[1] After serving as Managing Executive Officer of Microsoft, he became Senior Managing Executive Officer of Cisco Systems from 2010 and in 2016, he was appointed as a director of Dwango, the company that manages Niconico Douga.[1]
He was elected governor of Ibaraki prefecture in 2017 after defeating six-term incumbent Masaru Hashimoto in a three cornered race.[2]
In July 2019, Ibaraki became the first prefecture to issue partnership certificates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples. Announcing the reform, Gov. Ōigawa stated that ″This is a matter of human rights, and we must work swiftly in order to eliminate discrimination and prejudices″.[3]
References
- "プロフィール│大井川かずひこ（大井川和彦）WEB SITE". Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- "Ibaraki Gov. Hashimoto denied seventh term after losing to ruling coalition-backed rookie". Japan Times. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- "Japan prefecture to recognize partnerships for LGBT couples from July". Kyodo News. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
External links
- Official website in Japanese.