Heizō Takenaka Keynote Speaker

Heizō Takenaka is a world-leading economist with particular expertise in economic policy. He is Professor Emeritus at Keio University in Japan and remains active on several advisory boards and committees, including Senior Advisor to the Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER), Director of Academyhills, and Senior Advisor to Pasona Inc.

Professor Takenaka previously served as Professor and Director of the Global Security Research Institute at Keio University. He also held a number of senior government positions, including Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications (2005–06).

Professor Takenaka was the chief architect of Japan’s economic structural reform programmes under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. In 2001, he was appointed Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy, where he chaired the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy and steered macroeconomic policy. In 2002, he was additionally appointed Minister for Financial Services, successfully overseeing the disposal of non-performing loans in Japan’s banking sector—an issue that had constrained the economy for over a decade.

In 2004, he was elected to the House of Councillors and appointed Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy and Minister for the Privatisation of Postal Services. In this role, he led the privatisation of Japan Post, the country’s largest public enterprise. In 2005, he was appointed Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications while continuing to oversee postal privatisation. He returned to academia in 2006 following Prime Minister Koizumi’s resignation.

Professor Takenaka began his academic career in 1981 as a visiting scholar at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. He later served as a member of the Economic Strategy Council (1998) and the IT Strategy Council (2000), both advisory bodies to the Prime Minister.

He is the author of numerous books, including f, Prospects of the Japanese Economy for the 21st Century (1993), The Internationalization of the Japanese Economy and Corporate Investment (1993), Wealth of People (1994), The Economy in which Fast Movers Win (1998), Policy Crisis and the Japanese Economy (2001), The True Story of Japan’s Structural Reform (2006), and The Structural Reforms of the Koizumi Cabinet: An Insider’s Account of the Economic Revival of Japan (2008).