B.A. in Economics, Hitotsubashi University
Ph.D. in Economics, Osaka University
Heizo Takenaka attended Hitotsubashi University to study under Ichiro Nakayama and graduated with a BA in Economics in 1973. In 1973, Mr Takenaka entered the Development Bank of Japan. He was transferred into its Institute for Capital Investment Studies in 1977.
In 1981, he left the DBJ to study for a year at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he researched capital investment in the United States. The product of his research, the 1984 book Development Studies and Capital Expenditure Economics, won him the Suntory Liberal Arts Prize.
Mr Takenaka then worked in the Ministry of Finance as a researcher. He initially planned to stay for two years but stayed for five years from 1982 to 1987. He later completed his Ph.D. at Osaka University and taught as an associate professor between 1987 and 1989, as well as at Harvard from 1989-1990, and received tenure in the Public Policy faculty of Keio University.
Political life
Mr Takenaka was picked by Koizumi to become the Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2001. In this capacity, Mr Takenaka has become one of the most prominent voices in the ongoing debate over the privatization and breakup of Japan Post.
In 2002 he became Minister of State for Financial Services. In this capacity he was the author of the Takenaka Plan which successfully tackled Japan's banking crisis.
Mr Takenaka won his first election in 2004 and held a proportional representation seat in the House of Councilors.
