Fukushiro Nukaga

Fukushiro Nukaga (額賀 福志郎, Nukaga Fukushirō, born 11 January 1944) is a Japanese politician who is serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since October 2023. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1983 and represents Ibaraki's 2nd district.[1] He was previously the Minister of Finance from 2007 to 2008,[2] and served twice as Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary

Fukushiro Nukaga
額賀 福志郎
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
20 October 2023
MonarchNaruhito
DeputyBanri Kaieda
Preceded byHiroyuki Hosoda
Minister of Finance
In office
27 August 2007  2 August 2008
Prime MinisterShinzō Abe
Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded byKōji Omi
Succeeded byBunmei Ibuki
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office
31 October 2005  26 September 2006
Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi
Preceded byYoshinori Ohno
Succeeded byFumio Kyūma
In office
30 July 1998  20 November 1998
Prime MinisterKeizō Obuchi
Preceded byFumio Kyūma
Succeeded byHosei Norota
Ministry of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
In office
6 January 2001  23 January 2001
Prime MinisterYoshirō Mori
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byTarō Asō
Head of the Economic Planning Agency
In office
5 December 2000  6 January 2001
Prime MinisterYoshirō Mori
Preceded byTaichi Sakaiya
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
5 October 1999  4 July 2000
Prime MinisterKeizō Obuchi
Yoshirō Mori
Preceded byMuneo Suzuki
Succeeded byShinzō Abe
In office
11 September 1997  30 July 1998
Prime MinisterRyutaro Hashimoto
Preceded byYosano Kaoru
Succeeded byMuneo Suzuki
Personal details
Born (1944-01-11) 11 January 1944
Asō, Ibaraki, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
Alma materWaseda University

Career

With members of the Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet in September 2007

Nukaga was born in Asō, Ibaraki, now part of Namegata, Ibaraki. He graduated from Waseda University's Faculty of Political Science and Economics.[1] He was named Minister of State and Director General of the Japan Defense Agency on 30 July 1998, under Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi,[3] serving in that position until November 1998, when he resigned due to a scandal.[4] 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's second cabinet,[5] but he resigned on 23 January 2001, following criticism regarding 15 million yen 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 said that the government believed Nukaga's explanation.[4] Nukaga 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,[6][7] and remained in that position until September 2006.

He was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in a cabinet reshuffle on 27 August 2007.[2] 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 Yasuo Fukuda, Nukaga announced that he would back Fukuda for the leadership.[8] Following Fukuda's victory in the leadership election, Nukuga remained as Finance Minister in Fukuda's Cabinet, sworn in on 26 September 2007.[9] He was replaced in that post by Bunmei Ibuki on 1 August 2008. Nukaga is affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, that advocates a revision of the Constitution to restore the monarchy and militarism.[10]

On 8 February 2018, Nukaga announced his intent to resign from his position as head of Heisei Kenkyūkai, the third largest faction in the LDP.[11] Faction members had been unhappy with his performance as leader, namely his loyalty to Prime Minister Abe, and a rebellion had been brewing in the form of an exit of several Upper House members.[11] He is to be replaced by Wataru Takeshita, half-brother of former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita - the latter of whom founded the faction in the first place.[11]

References

  1. CV at government website.
  2. "Abe Replaces Finance Minister; Aso to Rebuild LDP", Bloomberg.com, 27 August 2007
  3. "OBUCHI NAMES CABINET: Government to Focus on Economic Issues", web-japan.org, 31 July 1998.
  4. "2ND LD: Nukaga resigns over KSD scandal, Aso takes over", Kyodo News International (Japan Policy & Politics), 29 January 2001.
  5. "Mori Launches Second Cabinet: Two Ex-Prime Ministers Named to New Team", web-japan.org, 11 December 2000.
  6. Norimitsu Onishi, "Conservatives lead Japan's cabinet", International Herald Tribune, 31 October 2005.
  7. List of members of the cabinet of 31 October 2005, kantei.go.jp.
  8. "Japan's finance chief not to run for ruling party president", iht.com, 14 September 2007.
  9. "Fukuda Cabinet launched/Changes minimized to reduce impact on Diet business" Archived 2 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 26 September 2007.
  10. Nippon Kaigi website
  11. "Head of ruling-LDP party faction to resign: sources". The Japan Times. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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