Yasuhide Nakayama
Yasuhide Nakayama (中山 泰秀 Nakayama Yasuhide, born October 14, 1970) is a Japanese politician representing the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), elected in December 2012 as a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and re-elected in the December 2015 elections. Mr Nakayama is the current State Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Japanese cabinet. [1]
Personal background and the Nakayama dynasty
Born in Osaka, Yasuhide Nakayama worked for advertising agency Dentsu on high-profile issues after graduating from the law faculty of Seijo University. He spent three years in France in his high school years.
He belongs to a family that counts among others:
- his grandfather Fukuzo Nakayama (1887-1978), a lawyer and politician, former member of the House of Representatives, and of the House of Councilors
- his grandmother Masa Nakayama (1891-1976), the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she became Minister of Health and Welfare in 1960
- his uncle Taro Nakayama, member of the House of Councilors and of the House of Representatives, served as Minister of Foreign affairs
- his father Masaaki Nakayama, member of the House of Representatives
Political career
In past governments, Nakayama was a Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and served as a member of the House of Representatives of Japan for six years representing the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). His first-hand experience of Japanese politics goes back 15 years. He has served as secretary to the Minister of Construction, secretary to the State Minister of the Management and Co-ordination Bureau, and as policy secretary for the former Minister of Defense and former Minister for the Environment, Yuriko Koike. Both Koike and Nakayama are affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, that advocates a return to militarism in Japan.[2]
Nakayama has also been Chairman of the Defense Committee of the LDP, was chairman of the Japan-Israel Parliamentary Friendship League, chairman of the Committee on Organizations Involved with Public Safety, Director of the Special Committee on North Korean Abductions and Other Issues, and Secretary-General for the Parliamentary League for the Promotion of International Market Competitiveness, among many other high-profile posts in parliament and within the LDP.[3]
Business career
Nakayama, who after the university worked for advertising agency Dentsu on high-profile issues, is currently working as Assistant to President for Pasona Group Inc.(www.pasonagroup.co.jp), a manpower company headquartered in his hometown Osaka, and until his re-election, he served as Senior Adviser to GR Japan (www.grjapan.com), a government relations consultancy.
Popular culture
Nakayama made a cameo appearance in the season finale of the game show I Survived a Japanese Game Show. In the episode, Nakayama congratulated the final two contestants on behalf of the Japanese people for making it to the end of the competition, and thanked them for furthering the understanding of the Japanese culture.
References
- ↑ http://www.mofa.go.jp/p_pd/dpr/page22e_000558.html. Missing or empty
|title=(help); External link in|website=(help); - ↑ Nippon Kaigi website
- ↑ Profile on LDP website: jimin.jp/english/profile/members/120982.html
- 政治家情報 〜中山 泰秀〜. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). Janjan. Retrieved 2007-10-08.