Akinori Eto

Japanese politician (born 1955)

Akinori Eto

江渡 聡徳

Minister of Defense
In office
3 September 2014 – 24 December 2014
Prime Minister| Shinzō Abe
Preceded by| Itsunori Onodera
Succeeded by| Gen Nakatani
Member of the House of Representatives

Incumbent

Assumed office
9 November 2003
In office
20 October 1996 – 25 June 2000
Personal details
Born|  (1955-10-12) October 12, 1955 (age 69)
Towada, Aomori
Political party| Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater| Nihon University
Website| Official website

Akinori Eto (江渡 聡徳, Eto Akinori, born 1955) is a Japanese politician and the former defense minister of Japan.

## Overview

[edit]

with Ashton Carter (March 17, 2013)

Eto is a politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Towada, Aomori, he attended Nihon University as both undergraduate and graduate. He was elected for the first time in 1996 but lost his seat in the re-election four years later. He was re-elected in 2003.

Eto was a short lived Minister of Defense starting from September, when he was appointed to his position due to a cabinet reshuffle but ending in December 2014. He declined continuing his post after the 2014 snap election due to being embroiled in a political funding scandal, where he and two other cabinet members was accused by opposition parties of alleged influence peddling, improper donations and/or issues in reporting on political funds. Eto denied the accusations.[1][2] Analysts say his handling of questions relating to the scandal was considered too weak and was a major reason for Abe to replace him with Gen Nakatani, who is seen as a stronger figure.[3]

Like Abe and most members of the Cabinet, he is affiliated with the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi.[4]

## Footnotes

[edit]

1. ^ "Japan PM's woes may not end despite resignations of two ministers". Reuters. 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
2. ^ "Shinzo Abe re-elected as Japan's prime minister". BBC News. 2014-12-24. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
3. ^ "Japan parliament re-elects Abe as prime minister". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
4. ^ "Abe’s reshuffle promotes right-wingers" (Korea Joongang Daily - 2014/09/05)

## References

[edit]

* 政治家情報 〜江渡 聡徳〜. JANJAN (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website in Japanese.

Political offices

Preceded by

Takahide Kimura

|  State Minister of Defense
2007-2008  | Succeeded by

Seigo Kitamura

Preceded by

Akihisa Nagashima

|  State Minister of Defense
2012-2013  | Succeeded by

Ryota Takeda

Preceded by

Itsunori Onodera

|  Minister of Defense
2014  | Succeeded by

Gen Nakatani

House of Representatives (Japan)
Preceded by

Ryota Takeda

|  Chair, Lower House Committee on Security
2013-2014  | Succeeded by

Seigo Kitamura

* v
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Defense Ministers of Japan

* Kyuma (2007)
* Koike (2007)
* Komura (2007)
* Ishiba (2007–2008)
* Hayashi (2008)
* Hamada (2008–2009)
* Kitazawa (2009–2011)
* Ichikawa (2011–2012)
* Tanaka (2012)
* Morimoto (2012)
* Onodera (2012–2014)
* Eto (2014)
* Nakatani (2014–2016)
* Inada (2016–2017)
* Kishida (2017)
* Onodera (2017–2018)
* Iwaya (2018–2019)
* Kono (2019–2020)
* Kishi (2020–2022)
* Hamada (2022–2023)
* Kihara (2023–2024)
* Nakatani (2024–present)

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