Masahiro Imamura cropped 1 Masahiro Imamura 20160803

is a Japanese

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 ...

of the Liberal Democratic Party, 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 ...

(national legislature).

Overview

A native of

Kashima, Saga is a city located in the southern part of Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of February 28, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 30,159 and a population density of 270 persons per km². The total area is 112.10 ...

and a graduate of 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 ...

, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1996 after working for the JR.

Career

*Japanese National Railways (employee of Kyusyu Railway Co. after the privatization) *State Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries *Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs *Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism *Chairman, Committee on Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism *Chairman, Special Committee on Audit and Oversight of Administration *Chairman, Regional Government Promotion Headquarters *Minister of reconstruction for disaster-hit regions

Yasukuni visits and right wing affiliations

Shinzo Abe and Masahiro Imamura cropped Hiroaki Hiruta Shinzo Abe and Masahiro Imamura 20170408

Masahiro Imamura and Shinzo Abe cropped Masahiro Imamura Shinzo Abe and Hiroaki Nagasawa 20170408

On August 11, 2016, one week after joining Prime Minister

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, 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 (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

's cabinet as reconstruction minister for disaster-hit regions, Masahiro Imamura visited the

controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite ...

Yasukuni shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

. In late 2016, hours after Abe and Defense Minister

Tomomi Inada is a Japanese lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, representing the 1st Fukui Prefecture since September 2005. She previously served as the 14th Japanese Minister of Defense from August 2016 to Jul ...

met President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and Abe expressed 'everlasting condolences' for the casualties of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Imamura again visited the shrine. The visit garnered "a sharp rebuke from Beijing". Imamura said his visit had “nothing to do with” Abe’s trip and the timing was “a coincidence”, saying he "wished to express gratitude and prayed for Japan’s peace and prosperity". Imamura is a member of key

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 ...

Diet groups: *

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

(revisionist lobby) *Pro-Yasukuni Alliance *Conference of young parliamentarians supporting the idea that the

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

is a true national interest and desire for peace *Japan Rebirth (Sosei Nippon) *Shinto Seiji Renmei Kokkai Giin Kondankai (Sinseiren, Shinto Political League - Shinto fundamentalism) Ahead of the 2012 elections, Imamura positioned himself in favor of: *changing the

Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan is a clause in the national Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947, following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces th ...

, which prohibits the exercise of the right of collective self-defense *considering the nuclear armament of Japan *re-operating the nuclear power plants that meet the new standards of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Masahiro Imamura, who holds rather radical positions about nuclear issues, was until April 26, 2017 the minister in charge of coping with the aftermath of the

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

nuclear power plant disaster. He was forced to step down over a remark that he had made the previous day suggesting that it had been better that the 2011 earthquake and tsunami had hit the Tohoku region than the Tokyo region. He has been replaced by Masayoshi Yoshino who had been chairman of the special House of Representatives committee on Tohoku reconstruction.

References

External links

* in Japanese. * Profile on the LDP website
jimin.jp/english/profile/members/114645.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imamura, Masahiro Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) University of Tokyo alumni People from Saga Prefecture Living people 1947 births Members of Nippon Kaigi Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians