Former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, the man picked by the Liberal Democratic Party to challenge the ruling Democratic Party of Japan as the leader of the opposition, is a veteran politician and mild-mannered policy expert.

The 64-year-old Tokyo native and son of a former education minister has also been the land, infrastructure, transport and tourism minister, and chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety.

The Lower House lawmaker, who is in his 10th term representing a single-seat district in Kyoto Prefecture, has been chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council and led his own faction for several years until May 2008.

He now belongs to a faction led by former LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga.

He has two daughters with his wife, Keiko.