Takafumi began his career in 1973 with the Ministry of Finance, where he held various positions in the Budget Bureau and Banking Bureau. In 1998, he joined the newly established Financial Supervisory Agency, the predecessor to today's Financial Services Agency. He served as director-general of the Inspection Bureau from 2002 to 2004 and as director-general of the Supervisory Bureau from 2004 to 2007, before being named commissioner.As FSA commissioner, he was a member of the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision, the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. He participated actively in the work of the Financial Stability Forum (now reorganized as the Financial Stability Board) as a member of the Forum's working group on market and institutional resilience. He was also a member of the Monitoring Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation during his tenure as FSA commissioner.Takafumi received a bachelor's degree in Economics from Hitotsubashi University. He earned a Master of Philosophy in economics from Oxford University and a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from Nagoya University.