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Hakuo Yanagisawa
柳澤 伯夫
Official portrait, 2001
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare
In office 26 September 2006 – 27 August 2007
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Preceded by	Jirō Kawasaki
Succeeded by	Yōichi Masuzoe
Minister of State for Financial Services
In office 6 January 2001 – 30 September 2002
Prime Minister	Yoshirō Mori
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Heizō Takenaka
Chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission
In office 5 December 2000 – 6 January 2001
Prime Minister	Yoshirō Mori
Preceded by	Hideyuki Aizawa
Succeeded by	Office abolished
In office 15 December 1998 – 5 October 1999
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	Michio Ochi
Minister of State (with responsibility for Financial Reconstruction)
In office 23 October 1998 – 15 December 1998
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Director-General of the National Land Agency
In office 30 July 1998 – 23 October 1998
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Hisaoki Kamei
Succeeded by	Kichio Inoue
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 6 July 1986 – 21 July 2009
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Nobuhiro Koyama
Constituency	Former Shizuoka 3rd (1986–1996) Shizuoka 3rd (1996–2009)
In office 23 June 1980 – 28 November 1983
Constituency	Shizuoka 3rd
Personal details
Born	(1935-08-18) 18 August 1935 (age 89) Fukuroi, Shizuoka, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic
Alma mater	Tokyo University

Hakuo Yanagisawa (Japanese: 柳沢 伯夫, Hepburn: Yanagisawa Hakuo, August 18, 1935 in Fukuroi, Shizuoka) is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan (2006–2007), and was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2009. His constituency was Shizuoka Prefecture 3rd District.

In January 2007, he drew criticism for describing women as "birth-giving machines" and "baby making devices" in a speech on the falling birthrate of Japan. He said later "it was extremely sound to have more than two children".

Career

He is from the city of Fukuroi in Shizuoka Prefecture. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in 1961. In 1980 he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time, and has been elected eight times since. He was the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs from July 1994 until August 1995, and the Chairman of the Committee on Health and Welfare from March 1998 to July 1998.

In July 1998 he was appointed to be the Minister of State for the National Land Agency by Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi, and became the Minister of State for Financial Reconstruction in October of that year. He was the Minister of State and Chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission from December 1998 to October 1999. He then reprised that role from December 2000 to January 2001. He was the Minister of State for Financial Services from January 2001 to September 2002, when he stepped down due to a disagreement with the minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, Heizō Takenaka. He was the Chairman of the Research Commission on the Tax System for the LDP from November 2005 to September 2006. He became the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in September 2006. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, belonging specifically to the Kōchikai (Koga faction).

In August 2009, Yanagisawa ran for reelection to represent Shizuoka's 3rd district House of Representatives, but was defeated by Nobuhiro Koyama. Yanagisawa thereafter retired from politics and accepted a post as the president of Josai International University.

References

1. The Guardian: Japanese minister wants 'birth-giving machines', aka women, to have more babies (Justin McCurry in Tokyo dated January 29, 2007)
2. BBC News: Japan women called child machines (27 January 2007, 22:48 GMT)
3. Japan Times: Yanagisawa apologizes anew, adds gaffe(8 February 2007)
4. The Japan Times Online Cabinet Profiles - Hakuo Hanagisawa (27 January 2007, 22:48 GMT)
5. Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (27 January 2007, 22:48 GMT)

• 1935 births
• Living people
• Politicians from Shizuoka Prefecture
• University of Tokyo alumni
• Ministers of health, labour and welfare of Japan
• Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
• Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2003–2005
• Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2005–2009