is a Japanese politician in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). She represented

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

in 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 ...

from 2012 to 2017. Her husband,

Shōichi Nakagawa was a Japanese conservative politician in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who served as Minister of Finance from 24 September 2008 to 17 February 2009. He previously held the posts of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of ...

, was also a politician, serving as

Minister of Finance of Japan The is one of the Cabinet of Japan, cabinet-level ministries of the Government of Japan, Japanese government. The ministry was named the until 2001. The Ministry is headed by the , who is a member of the Cabinet and is typically chosen from memb ...

in 2008 and 2009. Nakagawa was born in

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

and graduated from University of the Sacred Heart in 1981. She worked at

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

for a year until her marriage to Shōichi, and moved to Hokkaido shortly afterward. After Shōichi's death in 2009, Yūko began to get involved in politics. In the 2012 election, she ran in Hokkaido's 11th district against

Tomohiro Ishikawa is a former member of the House of Representatives elected to the 11th District of Hokkaidō, Japan. He is a former secretary to former Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary-General Ichirō Ozawa. After Satoshi Arai's candidacy to the 20 ...

, who had defeated her husband for the position in the last election; she won with 51 percent of the vote. During her time in the House, she served on the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee, and was appointed as parliamentary minister of the committee in 2014. In her role as minister, she spoke out in opposition to the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singa ...

. After being re-elected in the 2014 election, Nakagawa came under controversy in March 2015, when a photograph was released where she was kissing fellow politician Hirofumi Kado; Nakagawa later apologized for the incident, and LDP President

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

offered his continued support after the leak. She was challenged by

Kaori Ishikawa is a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, representing Hokkaido's 11th district after being elected for the first time. She was an analyst for Nippon BS Broadcasting before meeting her husband, Tomohir ...

, Tomohiro's wife, in the 2017 election. She lost, 54.5 to 45.5 percent, and the kiss with Kado was considered by the media to be the primary reason why she was defeated. She narrowly regained a seat in the

2021 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 31 October 2021, as required by the constitution. Voting took place in all constituencies in order to elect members to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet. As the constitutio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakagawa, Yūko 1958 births Living people Female members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Politicians from Niigata Prefecture