opposition party. In the second Hashimoto Cabinet she was inaugurated as Vice Minister of Posts (November 7, 1996). In the Obuchi Cabinet formed on July 30, 1998, she was selected as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, at 37 becoming the youngest post-war cabinet minister ever (a title formerly held by Kakuei Tanaka who was selected at age 39). After becoming minister, Prime Minister Obuchi called her "the future candidate for female Prime Minister". She also gained the attention of LDP Secretaries General Hiromu Nonaka and Makoto Koga. In 1999, she became LDP Diet Countermeasure Committee Vice-chair and House Steering Committee Program Director. As the program director position often goes to a promising young Diet member, and being the first woman to be selected, she became well known. In 2000, she served as LDP Policy Research Council Deputy Chairman, and First Vice-Secretary General. In 2001, she married Yōsuke Tsuruho (鶴保庸介 b. 1967) of the Conservative Party, and instead of a reception held a "New Year's Get-Together" in January 2002 at the Imperial Hotel (their common-law marriage dissolved in 2007). In a turning point of her 10-year career as Diet member, she quit the Kōmura faction in December 2003. It is thought that this was to break free from the restraints of the faction and widen her potential support base. They separated in 2007. She and her husband put their common-law marriage to practical use by leading the movement of the "joint male and female-planned society". She is a proponent of the right of women to keep their family name after marriage. This is despite her husband taking a position against the idea at the time the law enabling it was established. She puts first priority on children's issues, and is also actively involved in issues such as prohibition of child prostitution/pornography and support for the developmentally disabled (a member of the non-partisan "Association of Diet Members That Value Support for the Developmentally Disabled", which established the Support for Developmentally Disabled Act on November 24, 2001). Her interests include reading and watching movies, karaoke, and using the computer. As a lover of Japanese sake, she serves as President of the "Sake-Loving Female Diet Members Club" (Secretary-General Yuko Obuchi), and an advisor to the Sake Manufacturers' Association. Her mail magazine is called "Catherine's Report," Catherine being the name of her French Bulldog. It is said that she got the dog during the difficult