Kaneshichi Masuda

was a Japanese bureaucrat, cabinet minister, and politician. A career official of the Home Ministry, he served as Governor of Fukushima Prefecture and as Director-General of the Hokkaidō Agency before entering national politics. Under Shigeru Yoshida he held cabinet office as Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister of Labour, Minister of Transport, Minister of Construction, and the inaugural Director-General of the Hokkaido Development Agency. He later returned to cabinet as Director-General of the Defense Agency under Eisaku Satō.

Early life and education Masuda was born on 4 October 1898 in what is now Chikuhoku, Nagano Prefecture.

On 25 April 1946 he became the 30th Director-General of the Hokkaidō Agency. He was re-elected in 1952 as a Liberal Party candidate, but lost his seat until returning to the House at the 1958 Japanese general election as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate. He later won a further term in the 1967 Japanese general election.

Masuda remained one of Yoshida's close associates. On 6 May 1950 he became Minister of Construction, and when the Hokkaido Development Agency was established on 1 June 1950 he became its first Director-General, holding both posts until 7 June 1951. He also served as secretary-general of the Liberal Party.

Under Satō, Masuda returned to cabinet as Director-General of the Defense Agency. He held that office in the Second Satō Cabinet from 17 February 1967 and continued through the first remodelling of 25 November 1967, remaining in post until the second remodelling on 30 November 1968.

Later life He retired from politics in 1979 and thereafter worked as a lawyer while also serving as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's national Diet members' association. He died on 21 December 1985, aged 87.