National

Former Japanese Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka dies at 79

Kyodo, Staff Report

Former Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka has died of cancer, people close to him said Saturday. He was 79.

A native of Kagoshima, Yasuoka served as justice minister in 2000 and again in 2008. He died at a Tokyo hospital Friday afternoon.

Yasuoka was a lawyer before being elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1972. He served 13 terms in the Lower House before he retired from politics in 2017 to be treated for pancreatic cancer.

The lawyer-turned-politician also served as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s constitutional revision panel, becoming a key figure in pushing forward Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to revise the Constitution.

He also held other senior positions within the ruling LDP and the Lower House relating to the revision of the country’s Constitution.

He also strived to introduce a lay judge system in Japan. The first court session attended by lay judges took place a decade ago in 2009.

LATEST NATIONAL STORIES

Japan's ruling bloc to delay submission of bill to revise referendum law: The ruling bloc has decided not to submit a bill to revise the country's referendum law to the ongoing ordinary Diet session, informed sources have said. The Liberal Democratic Party-led ...

Japan bill banning parents from physically punishing children set to pass Diet: A bill banning parents and guardians from physically punishing children is set to pass the Diet during the current session, after the ruling and opposition parties agreed on some modifications, ...

3/11 'Miracle Pine' and Hiroshima's Atomic Bomb Dome to be included on 2020 Tokyo Olympics torch ...: The route for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay has been revealed and it will pass numerous cultural and World Heritage Sites, as well as landmarks from recent natural disasters, after it kicks...