After graduating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law in 1986, he joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). After working as an assistant professor at Keio University SFC, he was first elected to the House of Councillors in 2001, and served two terms as Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology during his 12-year term in the Diet. He was one of the first in Japan to promote the introduction of active learning. He was instrumental in the revision of the Courses of Study and the reform of the university admission system for the first time in 40 years. Vice President of the Society for Well-Being and Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the ruling party’s Special Mission Committee on Well-Being.