Hirofumi Nakasone

Foreign Minister, Japan

Date of Birth: 1945

Born in 1945, the Keio University graduate began his career with Asahi Chemical Industry in 1968 but turned to politics in 1983 after his father, Yasuhiro Nakasone, became Prime Minister (1982-1987). After three years as his father's secretary, Nakasone embarked on his own path. Africa is one of his many priorities - for strategic and reputational reasons.

He was elected to the House of Councillors on the Liberal Democratic Party ticket in 1986, a seat he has held ever since. He has been Chairman of the Japan-Arab Parliamentary Friendship Association and President of the Japan-ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Group. From 1990 to 1993, he was Vice-Minister of International Trade and Industry, and later Minister of Education and Minister of State for Science and Technology. He has been Prime Minister Taro Aso's Foreign Affairs Minister since September 2008. Nakasone replaced Masahiko Komura, who earned plaudits for his handling of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development IV in May 2008.

Among his African duties are representing Japan's diplomatic interests in its Somali anti-piracy mission and boosting aid to the continent. At the late-March TICAD follow-up in Botswana, Nakasone reaffirmed Komura's pledge to double aid by 2012 - and announced an additional US$500 million in food assistance and disease prevention.

Combating nuclear proliferation tops Nakasone's agenda. On 27 April he unveiled his '11 Benchmarks for Global Nuclear Disarmament'. A Middle East tour took him to Egypt and Iran (2-3 May), where he prodded Tehran to engage with United States' President Barack Obama. In Cairo, he met Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and President Hosni Mubarak. Though Mubarak opposes nuclear weapons proliferation in the region, his son (and likely successor) Gamal backs the construction of nuclear reactors.