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Usui returns to cabinet as justice minister
Japan Policy & Politics, Oct 11, 1999
TOKYO, Oct. 5 Kyodo
Former Defense Agency chief Hideo Usui, known for his affable personality, has returned to the cabinet as justice minister.
Usui was first appointed to the cabinet as director general of the Defense Agency under former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1996.
Despite taking up the top defense post without much experience in the field, he set the course for relocating the U.S. military's live fire drills from Okinawa Prefecture to other parts of Japan.
Usui, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1980, faces the task of setting up special legislation aimed at restricting the activities of the AUM Shinrikyo religious cult.
Many senior cult members are under trial, accused of a series of crimes, including the 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people and sickened more than 5,500.
Usui, 60, has served as parliamentary deputy head for the Economic Planning Agency, chairman of the lower house Committee on Education and head of the Liberal Democratic Party's education section.
A graduate of Chuo University, Usui is well-versed in kendo (Japanese swordsmanship) and skiing.
The native of Chiba Prefecture has been elected six times to the lower house.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
