is a Japanese politician who has served as leader of

Kibō no Tō was a conservative political party in Japan founded by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. The party was founded just before the call of the 2017 general election. The party's ideology was mainly Japanese conservatism and nationalism. Kibō no Tō ...

from 2019 to 2021. He served as

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japa ...

in the Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi and later as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism under Tarō Asō. After only four days in office he resigned due to a series of gaffes. Appointed on 24 September 2008, he resigned on 28 September 2008. After being de-endorsed by the LDP he lost his seat in the 2009 general election, eventually returning to the diet as a member of the Japan Restoration Party in the 2012 general election. He lost his seat again in the 2014 general election.

Background

Graduating from the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at the University of Tokyo in 1966, Nakayama joined the Ministry of Finance. In 1986 he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time, and in September 2004, he became the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He is married to Kyoko Nakayama, also a conservative politician.

Conservative positions

Nakayama is affiliated with the

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

, a revisionist, ultra-nationalist organization. When he was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Nakayama was prominent in efforts to censor sections of junior high textbooks in Japan that made references to

comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...

. In 2013, he continues to deny that women were forced to work in brothels during wartime. He claims that the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

was a complete fabrication, was a supporter of

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

filmmaker

Satoru Mizushima is a Japanese filmmaker and nationalist. He graduated from Waseda University majoring in German literature. He can often be seen and heard during nationalist rallies in Tokyo, especially during anti-Chinese protests. He denies Japan's destructive ...

's 2007 film

The Truth about Nanjing is a 2007 film by Japanese nationalist filmmaker Satoru Mizushima about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre (Nanking Massacre). Background and funding Mizushima said he received more than 200 million yen (US$1.8 million) in donations from 5,000 of his su ...

, which denied that the massacre ever occurred. During the first administration of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, Nakayama made efforts to revise the Kono statement of 1993. He has continued to express right-wing conservative visions of history.

As a four-day cabinet minister

In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008, Nakayama was appointed as Minister of Construction and Transport. He made several controversial statements since his appointment, such as saying: "I will stand at the forefront to destroy the Japan Teachers' Union, which is a cancer for Japanese education". In a press conference related to his Minister of Tourism portfolio, he declared that Japan is basically "ethnically homogeneous," which greatly angered the

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

, an indigenous ethnic minority living mostly in Northern Japan. He also said that Japanese people "do not like nor desire foreigners". He resigned on 27 September 2008.

Loss of LDP confidence and loss of lower house seat

In the 2009 general election the LDP was reluctant to run Nakayama as a candidate. He ran as an independent and lost his seat.''The Japan Times'
Nakayamas go with Tachiagare Nippon 22 June 2010
Retrieved 21 August 2012

Move to the Sunrise Party of Japan, Japan Restoration Party, and Party for Future Generations

On 21 June 2010 Nakayama and his wife Kyoko announced that they would move from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Sunrise Party of Japan. He ran for the House of Councilors in the July 11 2010 election, but was not elected.Ourcampaigns.co
Our Elections - Sunrise Party
Retrieved 21 August 2012 The Sunrise Party became part of the Japan Restoration Party, and Nariaki returned to the Diet in the 2012 general election. When Shintaro Ishihara's group left that party to form the

Party for Future Generations The , officially the , was a Japanese political party. It was formed as the on 1 August 2014 by a group of Diet members led by Shintarō Ishihara. The party adopted its final name in December 2015, and ended up dissolving in November 2018. Histo ...

he and his wife went too. He lost his seat again in the 2014 general election.

References

External links

Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Technology
Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakayama, Nariaki 1943 births Living people People from Miyazaki Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Spouses of Japanese politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Education ministers of Japan Ministers of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan Members of Nippon Kaigi Kibō no Tō politicians Nanjing Massacre deniers 21st-century Japanese politicians Politicians from Miyazaki Prefecture Historical negationism Culture ministers of Japan Sports ministers of Japan Technology ministers of Japan Science ministers of Japan