The Honorable Mr. Taro Kono has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1996, having been re-elected four times. His previous positions include Parliamentary Secretary for Public Management, Senior Vice-Minister of Justice, and Chairman of the Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs. Before joining the Diet, Mr. Kono worked for Fuji Xerox in Tokyo and its affiliate in Singapore, as well as for Nippon Tanshi. Mr. Kono graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and has experience at the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw, Poland.