Ichizo Ohara
President, Ohara Institute of Finance and the Economy
Tokyo, Japan
Birthday: 1st July, 1924 (born in Miyazaki prefecture)
Died November 3, 2005 (aged 81)
Office Address:
*Miyazaki city, JAPAN
Educational Background: 1951 University of Tokyo
Ohara has been on the forefront of reform of the Japanese economy and the author of many of Japan's most radical economic restructuring measures. He is known as a financial pro who stays above party politics and as an outspoken critic on Japan's finance, currency, and economic reform issues.
His economic and public policy expertise was honed through 49 years of experience at senior levels of government and politics. In 1972, he won his seat in the House of Representatives after a successful 21-year career at the Ministry of Finance, rising to the highest level of the Tax Bureau and the Budget Bureau.
He demonstrated his ability to implement economic policy through his long tenure as Chairman of the LDP's Budget and Finance Committee. He also had stints as Vice Minister of the National Land Agency and Minister of the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry.
Prime Minister Hashimoto selected Ohara to lead the efforts within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to formulate and implement Big Bang reform legislation, which ushered in the shake out in the Japanese banking and financial sectors and restructuring of corporate and government finances.
In addition, at the request of Prime Minister Hashimoto he served two years head of the LDP's Administrative Reform Headquarters where he drafted legislation that led to the reorganization of Japan's government and ministries and agencies.
He acted as the economic technician for the Obuchi Administration on many of its economic policies. Prime Minister Obuchi asked Ohara to launch the Economic Strategic Council and the Competitiveness Commission. Based on Ohara's leadership, these councils issued a long list innovative policy initiatives, including rebuilding the government's budgetary system, deregulation of Japan utilities, tax cuts, many of which have become law.
In addition, he established and chaired a number of key LDP committees. He established and chaired the LDP Committee on the Internationalization of the Yen where he is promoted the creation of a Yen-based regional regime for Asia. In addition, he established and chaired the LDP Committee on Asset Revaluation where is achieved radical restructuring the means by which real estate was assessed.
Ohara's comments have appeared in a number of Japanese and international media venues, including the BBC, CNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Time Magazine, among others. Ohara authors a bi-weekly commentary on the Japanese economy carried by Bridge News, an international wire service covering finance.
Ohara is frequently asked to speak on economic reform issues at international gatherings of senior business executives and government officials and with members of the foreign media. Most recently, Ohara, Senator Robert Dole and Lady Margaret Thatcher gave keynote addresses at a Tokyo gathering of international finance experts.
After retiring from Japanese politics in the autumn of 2003, Ohara established the Ohara Institute of Finance and the economy where he continues to write on the Japanese economy and actively engage in the policy debate on Japan's economic future.
Ichizo Ohara
Former Member, House of Representatives
Tokyo, Japan
Selected Recent Speeches at International Forums
Date: February 2000
Keynote address: "Conditions for rebuilding the Japanese economy"
Sponsor: Merrill Lynch Japan
Venue: Merrill Lynch Economic Forum, Tokyo, Japan
Date: December 1999
Keynote address: "Imperatives for the structural change of Japan's economy entering the 21st century"
Sponsor: The Economist Magazine
Venue: Fifth Roundtable with the Government of Japan: restructuring for a competitive edge, Tokyo, Japan
Date: June 1999
Keynote address: "An agenda for economic reform in Japan: imperatives and challenges"
Sponsor: Tiger Management Fund
Venue: Tiger Management Roundtable on the Global Economy, Tokyo, Japan
Date: June 1999
Keynote address: "Policy proposals for radical economic reform of the Japanese economy"
Sponsor: Foreign Correspondence Club of Japan
Venue: Foreign Correspondence of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
Date: October 1998
Keynote address: "Prime Minister Obuchi's agenda for the economy"
Sponsor: Foreign Correspondence Club of Japan
Venue: Foreign Correspondence of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
