The first name of Yukio Edano, the first leader of the new opposition party, comes from Yukio Ozaki, who is referred to as the "God of Constitutional Politics."
Amid a proliferation of new political parties, Edano was working as a lawyer in 1993 when he was recruited to stand as a candidate by the Japan New Party, and was first elected to the House of Representatives at the age of 29. At 46, he became chief cabinet secretary in the administration of Prime Minister Naoto Kan of the Democratic Party of Japan. He became the front man for the government as it dealt with the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
In 2017 when the Democratic Party (DP) and Kibo no To merged, the liberal DP members were "purged," leading Edano to establish the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The hashtag #Edano-tate (make a stand, Edano) become popular on the Internet, and he is finely tuned to online feedback.
He likes karaoke and his go-to song is "Fukyowaon" by the Japanese idol girl group Keyakizaka46. He has refrained from going to karaoke during the pandemic, but during talks with the Democratic Party for the People and other parties, Edano said he kept his spirits up by listening to idol group Nogizaka46's "Yoakemade Tsuyogaranakutemoii."
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