Topic: Fumio Kyuma

Fumio Kyuma (久間章生, Kyūma Fumio?) (born December 4, 1940) is a Japanese politician who has served in the Diet of Japan since 1980. Kyuma graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1964 and worked for the Ministry of Agriculture. He was elected to the Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly in 1971 serving three terms before being elected to the Diet as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for Nagasaki Number 2.

Kyuma served as the Minister for Defense between 1996 and 1998 under Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. He served in a variety of LDP posts in Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet. He again became responsible for defense in September 2006.

In September 2006, shortly after he was appointed Defense Minister, Kyuma stated that the Chinese military was a concern, contradicting earlier comments that he had made referring to China's military as a threat.