- Tōru Hashimoto
Tōru Hashimoto (橋下徹 Hashimoto Tōru, born Hashishita Tōru on
June 29 ,1969 ) is a Japaneselawyer and commentator on legal matters, and is theGovernor ofOsaka Prefecture . He is the youngest incumbent governor in Japan.Personal life
He was born in
Shibuya, Tokyo , and moved toOsaka when he was in the fifth grade at elementary school [http://www.nikkansports.com/general/p-gn-tp0-20080111-305621.html "橋下氏泣き落とし？初街頭でオカン話" Nikkansports.com,11 January 2008 ] . As a student at Kitano High School, he played in theNational High School Rugby Tournament as a member of the school rugby team, which was one of three champions from the Osaka prefectural tournament.He studied at
Waseda University , and passed thebar examination in 1994 after his graduation, then became a lawyer in 1996.After appearing on local TV programs in the
Kansai area, including Osaka, for several years, he became a well-known TV personality when he started participating in the nationally televised program "Gyōretsu no Dekiru Hōritsu Sōdanjo" (行列のできる法律相談所, The Legal Advice Office that People Can Queue Up For) as one of four lawyers.He and his wife, whom he has known since high school, have three sons and four daughters.
Gubernatorial election campaign
There were rumours that Hashimoto would run for Mayor of Osaka City in 2007, because of his popularity and status as a lawyer, but he did not do so and, even after
Fusae Ohta announced that she would retire as Governor of Osaka Prefecture after finishing her second term, he initially said that he had no intention to run for governor either. However, onDecember 12 ,2007 , after he had received pledges of support from the Liberal Democratic Party and theNew Komeito Party , he announced that he would run in the gubernatorial race. He took more than 50% of vote in the election onJanuary 27 ,2008 and took up the post of Governor onFebruary 6 , 2008.External links
* [http://www.pref.osaka.jp/en/introduction/governor.html A message from Hashimoto, the governor of Osaka]
* [http://hashimoto.lawyers-office.jp/ Hashimoto law office (in Japanese)]
* [http://www.hashimoto-toru.com/ Official site as a lawyer (in Japanese)]
* [http://hashimotol.exblog.jp/ Hashimoto's blog (in Japanese)]References
s-ttl | title = Governor of Osaka Prefecture
years = February 2008 –
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