Keiichiro Asao

Speaker at the St. Gallen Symposium

Keiichiro Asao serves as Japan’s Minister of the Environment and Minister of State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness. He is also a Member of the House of Councillors, having returned to office in 2022 to represent Kanagawa Prefecture. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr Asao held various senior roles within the Liberal Democratic Party, including Acting Chairperson of the Policy Research Council and Acting Chairperson of the LDP Policy Board in the House of Councillors. He previously served in the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017, representing the Southern Kanto proportional representation block and later Kanagawa’s 4th district. He was first elected to the House of Councillors in 1998 as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and was re-elected in 2004, serving until 2009. During this initial tenure, he was appointed Shadow Foreign Minister by DPJ leader Seiji Maehara. Before entering politics, Mr Asao worked at the Industrial Bank of Japan from 1987 to 1995. While at the bank, he earned an MBA from Stanford University in 1992. A native of Tokyo, he also holds a law degree from the University of Tokyo.