Our guest speaker for April was Kenta Matsunami, former Vice Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Chair of the LDP Council on Regionalization, and Vice Chair of the Health, Labor and Welfare Committee of the LDP's Policy Affairs Research Council.

Throughout his political career, Mr Matsunami has argued for the introduction of a federal state system in Japan and the transfer of regulatory power to local authorities as the best way to restore Japan's economic vitality and competitiveness.  His support for reform through regionalization predates, and lies behind, much of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's political platform. Given the close friendship between the two, many expect Mr Matsunami to run for Hashimoto's nascent political force, Osaka Ishin no Kai, at the next general election.  

The youngest LDP Diet Member whose father isn't a former Prime Minister, and definitely the only one with a professional boxing license, Mr Matsunami has agreed to talk to us about the introduction of a federal state system for Japan, Toru Hashimoto and the role of Osaka Ishin no Kai, and his views of the future of Japanese Politics.