Masahiko Shibayama

is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the House of Representatives belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party (6th term), Deputy Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party and Chairman of the Federation of Saitama Prefecture Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from October 2018 to September 2019.

Early life He was born in Nagoya, Aichi and grew up in Saitama Prefecture. He graduated from the University of Tokyo and joined Sumitomo Real Estate in 1990, but resigned thereafter to study for the Japanese bar examination, which he passed in 1998. In 2000, he was admitted as an attorney and joined the Toranomon Chuo Law Firm in Tokyo.

Political career He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2004, in a special election in Saitama to replace Masanori Arai, who had been arrested for campaign finance violations. He was re-elected the following year in the Japanese general election. In 2008, he was named Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and maintained this post under the cabinet of Taro Aso. and argued in 2016 that "doubling the number of foreign workers [in Japan] cannot be avoided in this global market situation."

Family Shibayama is married and has one daughter.