Masayoshi Takemura

was a Japanese politician. Elected as a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party, in 1993 he broke away to form New Party Sakigake, before joining the newly formed Democratic Party of Japan in 1997. He served as chief cabinet secretary and then finance minister in the Japanese government of the mid-1990s. Early life Takemura was born in Gamō district in Shiga Prefecture to a family of farmers. Initially studying engineering at Nagoya University, he graduated from University of Tokyo studying education and finance. He began his professional life as a bureaucrat in the home affairs ministry. Political career After leaving the ministry, he was elected mayor of Yōkaichi in Shiga Prefecture, and then became the governor of Shiga prefecture and served in the post from 1974 to 1986. He was elected to the Lower House in 1986 as a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party. In 1993 he split from the LDP to found the New Party Sakigake.