is a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese politician who is serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since October 2023. A member of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

, he has been a member of the

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

since 1983 and represents Ibaraki's 2nd district.CV at government website
He was previously the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 2007 to 2008,"Abe Replaces Finance Minister; Aso to Rebuild LDP"
Bloomberg.com, 27 August 2007 and served twice as Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency and

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary The is an official in the Japanese government who assists the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Since July 1998 there have always been three Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries at any given time. Role The Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries are customarily ...

Career

Nukaga was born in Asō, Ibaraki, now part of

Namegata, Ibaraki is a city in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,144 in 11,412 households and a population density of 144.5 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 35.9%. The city's total area is . ...

. He graduated from

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

's Faculty of Political Science and Economics. After working as a reporter for the

Sankei Shimbun The , name short for , is a daily national newspaper in Japan published by the Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd, ranking amongst the top five most circulated newspapers in Japan. Together with its English-language paper ''Japan Forward'', the ''Sankei ...

, he entered politics and was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He joined the Tanaka faction when elected, but along with most of the faction he later joined the Keiseikai founded by

Noboru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989. Born in Shimane Prefecture, Takeshita attended Waseda University and was drafted into the army during the Pacific War. He was first elected to the National Diet ...

, which was later renamed the Heisei Kenkyūkai. He was named Minister of State and Director General of the Japan Defense Agency on 30 July 1998, under Prime Minister

Keizō Obuchi was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000. Born in Gunma Prefecture, Obuchi graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the National Diet in 1963, becoming one of the youngest legislators i ...

, serving in that position until November 1998, when he resigned due to a scandal."2ND LD: Nukaga resigns over KSD scandal, Aso takes over"
Kyodo News International (''Japan Policy & Politics''), 29 January 2001. He was named Minister of State in charge of economic and fiscal policy, as well as IT policy, on 5 December 2000, as part of Prime Minister

Yoshirō Mori is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2000 to 2001. He was unpopular in opinion polls during his time in office, and is known for making controversial statements, bot ...

's second cabinet, but he resigned on 23 January 2001, following criticism regarding 15 million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

he had received from the mutual aid foundation KSD. He said that his secretary had received the money and that it had been returned, but apologized and said that he took "final responsibility as a supervisor". Chief Cabinet Secretary

Yasuo Fukuda is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori an ...

said that the government believed Nukaga's explanation. Nukaga served as chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council from September 2003 to September 2004. He returned to the position of Minister of State and Director General of the Japan Defense Agency on 31 October 2005, under Prime Minister

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...

, and remained in that position until September 2006. He was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe (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 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...

in a cabinet reshuffle on 27 August 2007. Following Abe's resignation on 12 September, Nukaga initially said that he would run for the position of LDP president (and thus Prime Minister) on 13 September, but, on 14 September, after meeting with

, Nukaga announced that he would back Fukuda for the leadership. Following Fukuda's victory in the leadership election, Nukuga remained as Finance Minister in Fukuda's Cabinet, sworn in on 26 September 2007. He was replaced in that post by Bunmei Ibuki on 1 August 2008. Nukaga was reelected in the August 2009 House of Representatives election, which was otherwise disastrous for the LDP. Nukaga was chosen to replace the retiring Yuji Tsushima as head of the Heisei Kenkyūkai. After the LDP returned to government with the 2012 election he became subcommittee chairman of the LDP Tax System Research Commission. In April 2015 he also became chief of the LDP "Headquarters for accelerating reconstruction after the

Great East Japan Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

". On 8 February 2018, Nukaga announced his intent to resign from his position as head of Heisei Kenkyūkai. This followed a rebellion in which faction members in House of Councillors led by Hiromi Yoshida threatened to leave the faction unless there was change in leadership. In March he handed over the leadership to

Wataru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. A native of Kakeya, Shimane and graduate of Keio University he was elected for the first time ...

, the half-brother of the faction's founder. After that, Nukaga became chief advisor of the faction. In September 2019 Nukaga left the position of subcommittee chairman and became an advisor of the LDP Tax System Research Commission. He remained an authority in the field of economic policy within the LDP. In December 2021 he was chosen as chief of the new LDP "Headquarters for promoting fiscal consolidation." In October 2023 Nukaga was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, after

Hiroyuki Hosoda was a Japanese politician who served as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan from November 2021 to October 2023. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1990, and served as Chief Cabinet Secretary in Junichiro Koi ...

resigned for health reasons. Nukaga is affiliated with the conservative lobby

Nippon Kaigi is Japan's largest ultraconservative and ultranationalist far-right non-governmental organisation and lobbying group. It was established in 1997 and has approximately 38,000 to 40,000 members as of 2020. The group has significant influence i ...

.Nippon Kaigi website

Election history

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nukaga, Fukushiro 1944 births Living people Waseda University alumni Government ministers of Japan Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Ministers of finance of Japan Members of Nippon Kaigi Ministers of defense of Japan Speakers of the House of Representatives (Japan) Politicians from Ibaraki Prefecture Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2003–2005 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2005–2009 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2009–2012 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2014–2017