Kaneshichi Masuda

The native form of this personal name is Masuda Kaneshichi. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Kaneshichi Masuda
増田 甲子七
Masuda in 1948
Director-General of the Defense Agency
In office 3 December 1966 – 30 November 1968
Prime Minister	Eisaku Satō
Preceded by	Eikichi Kanbayashiyama
Succeeded by	Kiichi Arita
Ministerial offices Director-General of the Reparations Agency In office 28 June 1950 – 7 June 1951 Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Preceded by Kikuichirō Yamaguchi Succeeded by Hideo Sutō Director-General of the Hokkaido Development Agency In office 1 June 1950 – 7 June 1951 Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Hideo Sutō Minister of Construction In office 6 May 1950 – 7 June 1951 Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Preceded by Shūji Masutani Succeeded by Hideo Sutō Chief Cabinet Secretary In office 16 February 1949 – 6 May 1950 Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Preceded by Eisaku Satō Succeeded by Katsuo Okazaki Minister of Labour In office 15 October 1948 – 16 February 1949 Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Preceded by Kanjū Katō Shigeru Yoshida (acting) Succeeded by Masafumi Suzuki Minister of Transport In office 31 January 1947 – 24 May 1947 Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Preceded by Hiratsuka Tsunejirō Succeeded by Tetsu Katayama (acting) Gizō Tomabechi
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 5 December 1976 – 7 September 1979
Preceded by	Sadataka Ozawa
Succeeded by	Sadataka Ozawa
Constituency	Nagano 4th
In office 22 May 1958 – 13 November 1972
Preceded by	Etsujirō Uehara
Succeeded by	Sadataka Ozawa
Constituency	Nagano 4th
In office 25 April 1947 – 24 January 1955
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Etsujirō Uehara
Constituency	Nagano 4th
Gubernatorial offices Director-General of the Hokkaidō Agency In office 25 April 1946 – 31 January 1947 Monarch Hirohito Preceded by Yukio Tomeoka Succeeded by Kaneyoshi Okada Governor of Fukushima Prefecture In office 27 October 1945 – 25 April 1946 Monarch Hirohito Preceded by Ishii Masakazu Succeeded by Kan'ichirō Ishihara
Personal details
Born	(1898-10-04)4 October 1898 Sakakita, Nagano, Japan
Died	21 December 1985(1985-12-21) (aged 87)
Resting place	Tama Cemetery
Party	Liberal Democratic
Other political affiliations	JLP (1947–1948) DLP (1948–1950) LP (1950–1955)
Alma mater	Kyoto Imperial University

Kaneshichi Masuda (増田 甲子七, Masuda Kaneshichi; 4 October 1898 – 21 December 1985) was a Japanese bureaucrat, cabinet minister, and politician. A career official of the Home Ministry, he served as Governor of Fukushima Prefecture and as Director-General of the Hokkaidō Agency before entering national politics. Under Shigeru Yoshida he held cabinet office as Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister of Labour, Minister of Transport, Minister of Construction, and the inaugural Director-General of the Hokkaido Development Agency. He later returned to cabinet as Director-General of the Defense Agency under Eisaku Satō.

Early life and education

Masuda was born on 4 October 1898 in what is now Chikuhoku, Nagano Prefecture. He studied at Matsumoto Middle School and the Eighth Higher School, later passed the higher-school graduation examination, and graduated from the law faculty of Kyoto Imperial University in 1922. He entered the Home Ministry in April 1922.

Bureaucratic career

After entering the Home Ministry, Masuda served in police and local-administration posts, including service as an Osaka prefectural police inspector and as social affairs chief in Hyōgo Prefecture. By the end of the Pacific War he had risen to the governorship of Fukushima Prefecture, taking office on 27 October 1945.

On 25 April 1946 he became the 30th Director-General of the Hokkaidō Agency. His tenure lasted until 31 January 1947.

Political career

Masuda entered the First Yoshida Cabinet as Minister of Transport on 31 January 1947. In the Second Yoshida Cabinet he served as Minister of Labour from 15 October 1948 until 16 February 1949. On 16 February 1949, with the formation of the Third Yoshida Cabinet, he became Chief Cabinet Secretary.

In the 1949 Japanese general election, Masuda was elected to the House of Representatives from Nagano 4th district as a Democratic Liberal Party candidate. He was re-elected in 1952 as a Liberal Party candidate, but lost his seat until returning to the House at the 1958 Japanese general election as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate. He later won a further term in the 1967 Japanese general election.

Masuda remained one of Yoshida's close associates. On 6 May 1950 he became Minister of Construction, and when the Hokkaido Development Agency was established on 1 June 1950 he became its first Director-General, holding both posts until 7 June 1951. He also served as secretary-general of the Liberal Party.

Under Satō, Masuda returned to cabinet as Director-General of the Defense Agency. He held that office in the Second Satō Cabinet from 17 February 1967 and continued through the first remodelling of 25 November 1967, remaining in post until the second remodelling on 30 November 1968.

Later life

He retired from politics in 1979 and thereafter worked as a lawyer while also serving as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's national Diet members' association. He died on 21 December 1985, aged 87.