As Switzerland and Japan celebrate 150 years of diplomatic ties this month, Yoichi Masuzoe, who earned a degree from the Institute in 1978, was just elected Governor of Tokyo.
After leaving the Institute, Mr Masuzoe went on to become Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo for a decade before founding the Masuzoe Institute of Political Economy.
He has also been a member of the Diet and was Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare under three consecutive Prime Ministers.
Throughout his career Mr Masuzoe has been a frequent author and commenter on foreign affairs, and wrote a widely read book on Japan’s aging society based on his experience of caring for his mother which he described “a battle”.
Mr Masuzoe says that social welfare, including the reduction of the number of children on waiting list for admission to day-care facilities, disaster prevention as well as capacity-building for a great success of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is among his top priorities”.
The Graduate Institute congratulates Yoichi Masuzoe on his latest accomplishment.