is a Japanese

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...

, business leader, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was elected governor of

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

in 2006.

Biography

Nakaima was born on August 19, 1939 in Higashinari Ward of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. He is of Ryukyuan descent. Nakaima is descended from a Chinese family with the surname of Cai, one of the 36 Han Chinese

Kumemura was an Okinawan community of scholars, bureaucrats, and diplomats in the port city of Naha near the royal capital of Shuri, which was a center of culture and learning during the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The people of Kumemura, traditionally ...

families who moved to Okinawa in 1392.仲井真弘多後援會
In 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, his family escaped from the air raids in Osaka and evacuated to Meiji, Minamiamabe District,

Oita Prefecture Oita often refers to: *Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan *Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture Oita or Ōita may also refer to: Places *Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan *Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadium ...

. In 1946 he returned to his parents' hometown of

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. There he graduated from

Kainan Elementary School 270px, Street in Konoe neighborhood of Kainan is a city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,811 in 22129 households and a population density of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

, Uenoyama Junior High School, and

Naha Senior High School is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area ...

. Nakaima excelled in math and science, earning grades that placed him at the top of his class. Pursuing a dream of becoming an automobile designer, Nakaima sat for an exam to apply for the Government-funded/Self-funded Okinawa Student Program, a system established between the United States Military Government in Okinawa and the

Japanese Government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

to allow students from Okinawa to attend university in mainland Japan. Nakaima passed the exam and matriculated at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1961. Directly after graduating in 1961, Nakaima joined the

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and di ...

(MITI). In the 1980s, Nakaima served as the Director General of the Commerce and Industry Department at the

Okinawa General Bureau is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

and later as the Deputy Director-General for Technology Affairs at MITI's Agency of Industrial Science and Technology. In 1987, Nakaima took a Senior General Manager position with the Okinawa Electric Power Company. In 1990, he left the company to become a Vice Governor in the administration of Okinawa Governor

Masahide Ota Masahide (written: 正秀, 正英, 昌秀, 政秀, 政英 or 雅英) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese sprinter *, Japanese diplomat *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese basebal ...

. Nakaima returned to the Okinawa Electric Power Company in 1995, serving as the company's President and later Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 2006 the Liberal Democratic Party and the

New Kōmeitō , formerly New Komeito and abbreviated NKP, is a conservative political party in Japan founded by lay members of the Buddhist Japanese new religious movement Soka Gakkai in 1964. Since 2012, it has served in government as the junior coalitio ...

gave him backing for his run in the Okinawa gubernatorial election on November 19. In the election, Nakaima defeated

Keiko Itokazu is a Japanese politician, an independent and member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Yomitan, Okinawa and high school graduate, she served in the assembly of Okinawa Prefecture for three terms, starting ...

, who received the recommendation of five opposition parties. Nakaima assumed the office of Governor on December 10, 2006. He was re-elected for a second term on November 28, 2010, defeating Yoichi Iha. In December 2013, Nakaima approved a landfill proposal by the Japanese government to permit the construction of new military facilities in Henoko to replace

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 3,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and other units, and has been a U.S. military ai ...

. The decision came two days after Tokyo earmarked 348 billion yen for Okinawa's economic development and despite earlier campaign promises by Nakaima to move the base outside of the prefecture altogether. On May 10, 2014, Nakaima sent his congratulations to the openly revisionist lobby

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

for a sport event it held in Okinawa Nakaima lost his bid for a second re-election on November 16, 2014, losing to former Naha mayor

Takeshi Onaga (2 October 1950 – 8 August 2018) was a Japanese politician and the seventh Governor of Okinawa Prefecture from 2014 to 2018. Onaga served as a member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly from 1992 to 1996 and four terms as mayor of Naha, th ...

. Onaga opposed the plan to move the

base to Henoko Bay, while Nakaima supported it.

References

External links

*
Hirokazu Nakaima Supporters' Association
*
Okinawa Prefecture, Governor's Webpage

Okinawa Electric Power Company, Incorporated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakaima, Hirokazu 1939 births Living people People from Osaka University of Tokyo alumni Members of Nippon Kaigi Governors of Okinawa Prefecture Japanese people of Chinese descent Ryukyuan people Japanese politicians of Ryukyuan descent

Biography

See also

References

External links