He entered politics in April 1975, when he was first elected to the
Kagoshima City Council. He would be on the council for 23 years and served three times as chairman. In July 1998, Moriyama was elected as a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for the
Kagoshima at-large district in the
House of Councillors election. He would serve as parliamentary secretary for the
Ministry of Finance from October 2002 to September 2003. Like many other postal rebels, Moriyama returned the LDP under Koizumi's successor
Shinzo Abe in December 2006. In July 2007 he joined the
Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai faction led by
Taku Yamasaki. In August of the same year he was appointed Senior Vice Minister of Finance and served as such until August 2008. Moriyama served as the
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the
cabinet of Shinzo Abe from October 2015 to August 2016. In December of the same year Moriyama became head of the
Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai due to the defeat of the previous head
Nobuteru Ishihara in the
2021 House of Representatives election. In August 2022 he was appointed chairman of the Election Strategy Committee in the LDP, putting him in charge of the difficult task of coordinating candidates after a recent redistricting. He served in this position until September 2023, when he was appointed chairman of the General Council. Due to his experience in diet affairs and ability to negotiate with opposition parties, Moriyama played an significant role in steering the LDP in its role as a parliamentary minority. In January 2025, he became chairman of the
Japan–China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union. == References ==