was a Japanese politician and educator who was the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she became Minister of Health and Welfare in 1960.

Early life and education

Nakayama was born Masa Iida-Powers in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, the daughter of Rodney H. Powers, an American businessman who had settled in Nagasaki in the 1860s, and his Japanese

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

, Naka Iida. Masa attended Kwassui Jogakko, a mission school run by American Methodist missionaries. In 1911, she moved to the United States where she enrolled at

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, graduating in 1916. Returning to Japan, she had a distinguished career as a high school and college educator prior to the outbreak of

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 ...

. In 1923, Nakayama married Fukuzō Nakayama, a lawyer and politician who served in the lower house from 1932 to 1942, and later in the upper house after World War II.

Political career

In 1947, she was elected as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

, representing the second district of

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

. In 1960, she became the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she was appointed Minister of Health and Welfare by Prime Minister

Hayato Ikeda was a Japanese bureaucrat and later politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double Japan's GDP in ten years. Ikeda is also known for repairing U.S.-J ...

. She served as a minister for five months, stepping down in December 1960.

Later life and death

Nakayama retired from the Diet in 1969, and was succeeded in her seat by her son, Masaaki. Nakayama died of throat cancer at an Osaka hospital on October 11, 1976, aged 85.

Family and descendants

Nakayama and her husband had two sons who also went into national politics: Representative

Taro Nakayama is a Japanese doctor and politician serving in the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan, Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party. A nati ...

and Representative

Masaaki Nakayama Masaaki (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese politician *, Japanese poet *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese singer-songwriter * ...

. Representative

Yasuhide Nakayama is a Japanese politician who served as the Senior Vice Minister of Defense of Japan. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he was elected in December 2012 as a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and re-elected in the Dece ...

is her grandson and Masaaki's son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakayama, Masa 1891 births 1976 deaths Ministers of Health and Welfare of Japan Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Women government ministers of Japan Female members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Ohio Wesleyan University alumni Spouses of Japanese politicians Japanese educators Japanese people of American descent People from Nagasaki Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Deaths from laryngeal cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan Japanese women educators