 After graduation, he worked in the Ministry of Labour.He resigned from this position in 1988 and was elected to the Diet of Japan in 1990.He served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Health, Labour and Welfare under Tomiichi Murayama, as deputy director of the Liberal Democratic Party, as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Labour Relations under Keizō Obuchi and Yoshirō Mori, as Vice-Minister of Justice in the second Mori cabinet and as Assistant Cabinet Secretary under Jun'ichirō Koizumi.