KONO Taro, 46, a fifth-term Member of the House of Representatives, ran for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party in the summer of 2009.  Although public opinion polls showed KONO to be ahead of his election rivals, the Party’s conservative card-carrying members failed to support the Party’s most popular, albeit most outspoken and revolutionary, politician.  KONO came in second to the former Finance Minister, TANIGAKI Sadakazu.
KONO Taro represents the 15th District of Kanagawa Prefecture, which encompasses the cities of Chigasaki, Hiratsuka, Oiso and Ninomiya on the Sagami Bay.

In the 2009 General Election, in which the LDP lost nearly two-thirds of its previously held seats, KONO earned 163,470 votes and was re-elected for a fifth consecutive term.  In the 2005 General Election KONO received 186,770 votes, which was the second largest number of votes in Japan's electoral history; second only to the then Prime Minister Koizumi, also in 2005.

KONO was first elected to the House of Representatives as a Liberal Democratic Member in October 1996, at age 33, and has been re-elected without fail since.  His winning majority increased from 13,297 in 1996 to 103,280 in 2005, but in 2009 it was reduced to 38,956.

Until the Parliament was dissolved in August 2008, KONO was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of the Representatives. KONO served in Prime Minister Koizumi's final government as the Senior Vice Minister of Justice from November 2005 to September 2006. In 2002 he held the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Public Management, with responsibilities including administrative reforms, local government matters, and e-Government.

KONO donated a part of his liver to his ailing father, KONO Yohei, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in a liver transplant operation in April 2002.  KONO Yohei later became the longest serving Speaker of the House. KONO Taro led the passage through parliament of the Organ Transplant Law of 2009.

In 2004 KONO co-sponsored the Economic Sanction Amendment to the Foreign Exchange Law and the Port Close Law which allows the Government to refuse the entry of North Korean ships into Japanese ports. 

KONO has championed consumer issues in LDP since he created the House subcommittee on Genetically Modified Organisms in 1997 and successfully pushed for the introduction of labeling rules on GMOs.  He sponsored the Consumer Protection Law of 2004 and enacted the Anti-Skimming Law of 2005. 
KONO has also played a leading role in the passage of many Government Bills on various environmental issues.  KONO is a strong advocate of the Kyoto Protocol and leads the debate on global warming and other global environmentally related issues.  He enacted the Anti-Chlorofluoro-carbons Law of 2001.

KONO has voiced strong concerns over the Government’s nuclear policy.  He is especially critical of the Government 's pursuit of a so-called 'closed' nuclear fuel cycle whereby plutonium is extracted from spent fuel by nuclear waste re-processing within Japan.  KONO also opposes the building of new nuclear power plants as the Government has so far failed to deal with the issue of nuclear waste disposal.

KONO strongly believes that the Japanese economy should be more market-oriented.  He advocates a smaller national government with less regulation.  During the bank crisis KONO supported tough measures requiring Japanese banks to deal with non-performing loans quickly, decisively and honestly.  He supports a stronger anti-trust law.  KONO has been leading the work of the LDP towards National Pension reform.

KONO believes that Japan should amend the Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution in order to clarify Japan's right to defend itself and thereby maintain adequate forces in order to do so. He believes that the Japan-US Security Treaty is important in maintaining stability in Asia.  KONO has publicly announced that an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier should replace the Kitty Hawk in Yokosuka by 2008. KONO was one of a few LDP Members to oppose the dispatch of the Self Defense Forces to Iraq.

As the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, KONO conducted research into a secret accord with the US Government on the introduction of US nuclear weapons into Japan, resulting in him demanding that the Government officially acknowledge the existence of the Accord.

He has publicly pledged that were he to be elected Prime Minister, he would not visit the Yasukuni Shrine.  He has been promoting the idea of erecting a new non-religious Memorial for those who have died for Japan in the wars.
KONO has sponsored the United Nations Reform Bill that would require the Japanese Government to reduce its voluntary contributions to the UN Systems by 10% each year until the Security Council is reformed. KONO is against providing development aid to any countries that have failed to ratify the Complete Test Ban Treaty.

Born January 10, 1963, KONO enjoyed a warm family upbringing with his brother and sister in Hiratsuka.  He graduated from KEIO Senior High School in Japan and the Suffield Academy in Suffield, Connecticut.   A 1985 graduate of Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, KONO had the privilege of attending Dr. Madeleine Albright's seminar on the American foreign policy process.  He also attended the Central School of Planning and Statistics (SGPiS) in Warsaw, Poland in 1984.

While in Washington, DC, KONO served for Democratic Congressman Richard Shelby of Alabama, now GOP Senior Senator of Alabama, for two years.
KONO joined Fuji Xerox in 1986.  He moved to Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific in Singapore in 1991. KONO became Managing Director of Nippon Tanshi, a supplier of electric components for Toyota, GM and Matsushita etc. in 1993.

KONO was the Chairman of Shonan Bellmare, a Professional Football Club in Japan, winner of the 1995-1996 AFC Cup-Winners' Cup and three time winners of both the Emperor's Cup and the National League. KONO is also Chairman of the Japan Race Horse Association, which organizes Japan's largest yearling sales.  KONO also teaches an evening graduate class at Hosei University.

KONO Taro and his wife, Kaori, have a son, Ippei, who was born in 2002.  The KONOs are keen scuba-divers and movie/theater-goers.