During his time at MITI, he was sent to study at the
École nationale d'administration in
France. From 1994 to 1996, he served as the Executive Secretary to both Prime Ministers
Tsutomu Hata and
Tomiichi Murayama. Soon after he was appointed
Director-General of the
Economic Cooperation Department in the
International Trade Bureau of MITI and later the Director-General for
Commerce and Distribution Policy in the same ministry. In 2002, he was moved to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to head the
Economic Cooperation Bureau after the move was requested by then
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and the
Office of the Prime Minister. He was put in charge of various reform efforts within the ministry and was chiefly responsible for the
Foreign Ministry updating and reforming
Official Development Assistance (ODA). He left the ministry after he was elected in February 2005 to be the next governor of
Gifu Prefecture, replacing Governor
Taku Kajiwara, who had served for 16 years as governor. == 2009 Election ==