he was born in onomichi, hiroshima prefecture in 1952, and moved to fukuyama, another city in hiroshima prefecture, in 1959. after graduating from fukuyama junior and senior high school attached to hiroshima university in 1970, he entered the university of tokyo in 1971, where he graduated in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in law. the following year, he started his career at the ministry of education, sports, science and culture.