Kozo Yamamoto

Kozo Yamamoto
山本 幸三
Official portrait, 2016
Minister of State for Regional Revitalization
In office
3 August 2016  3 August 2017
Prime MinisterShinzo Abe
Preceded byShigeru Ishiba
Succeeded byHiroshi Kajiyama
Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform
In office
3 August 2016  3 August 2017
Prime MinisterShinzo Abe
Preceded byTarō Kōno
Succeeded byHiroshi Kajiyama
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
11 September 2005  14 October 2021
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byTakashi Kii
ConstituencyKyushu PR (2005–2012)
Fukuoka 10th (2012–2021)
In office
18 July 1993  10 October 2003
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byRyota Takeda
ConstituencyFukuoka 4th (1993–1996)
Fukuoka 11th (1996–2003)
Personal details
Born (1948-08-08) 8 August 1948
Yukuhashi, Fukuoka, Japan
Political partyLDP (1990–1993; 1997–present)
Other political
affiliations
JRP (1993–1994)
NFP (1994–1997)
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo
Cornell University

Kozo Yamamoto (山本 幸三, Yamamoto Kōzō, born August 8, 1948) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who is a former Ministry of Finance official, and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). He served as State Minister in charge of: Regional Revitalization; Regulatory Reform; Administrative Reform; City, People, Job-Creation; and Civil Service Reform from 2016 to 2017. Previous posts include Vice Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (in the 2006 cabinet of Shinzo Abe), Chairman of the Judicial Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Chairman of the Special Commission on Consumer Issues, and Chairman of the Special Commission on Regional Revitalization.

He is known to be one of the main fathers of Abenomics. A native of Yukuhashi, Fukuoka, Yamamoto attended the University of Tokyo and received his MBA from Cornell University in the United States. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993 after an unsuccessful run in 1990.

Tatsuo Murayama, Yamamoto's father in law, was an LDP member of the House of Representatives who served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Health and Welfare. His uncle, Momotaro Yanagida, was mayor of the City of Moji (Fukuoka Prefecture) and a member of the House of Representatives.