INAGAWA Hidekazu is a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Social Welfare, Toyo University, and a Specially Appointed Professor at Odawara Junior College. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from Kyushu University, with expertise in social security law, social welfare studies, and social security policy. After graduating from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1982, he joined the Ministry of Health and Welfare. He subsequently held senior positions including Director of the Public Assistance Division and Director of the General Affairs Division of the Pension Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Counsellor (Social Security) at the Cabinet Office; Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society; and Director-General of the Chugoku-Shikoku Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare (retired 2014). He later served as Executive Director (Planning) of the Japan Health Insurance Association and Professor at the Faculty of Sociology, Toyo University. His major publications include Social Security Law: General Overview/Social Insurance Law (Shinzansha, 2023) and Social Welfare Law (Shinzansha, 2024).