Masa Nakayama

Masa Nakayama (中山 マサ, Nakayama Masa, January 19, 1891 – October 11, 1976) was a Japanese politician and educator who was the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she became Minister of Health and Welfare in 1960.[1]

Masa Nakayama
中山 マサ
Black and white photo of two Japanese people drinking a toast at a restaurant
Masa Nakayama in 1952
Minister of Health and Welfare
In office
19 July 1960 – 8 December 1960
Prime MinisterHayato Ikeda
Preceded byYoshio Watanabe
Succeeded byKimi Furui
ConstituencyOsaka Prefecture, 2nd district
Personal details
Born
Masa Iida-Powers

(1891-01-19)January 19, 1891
Nagasaki, Japan
DiedOctober 11, 1976(1976-10-11) (aged 85)
Osaka, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
SpouseFukuzō Nakayama
ChildrenTaro Nakayama
Masaaki Nakayama
Alma materOhio Wesleyan University

Early life and education

Nakayama was born Masa Iida-Powers in Nagasaki, the daughter of Rodney H. Powers, an American businessman who had settled in Nagasaki in the 1860s, and his Japanese partner, Naka Iida. Masa attended Kwassui Jogakko, a mission school run by American Methodist missionaries. In 1911, she moved to the United States where she enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University,[2] graduating in 1916. Returning to Japan, she had a distinguished career as a high school and college educator prior to the outbreak of World War II.[3] In 1923, Nakayama married Fukuzō Nakayama, a lawyer and politician who served in the lower house from 1932 to 1942, and later in the upper house after World War II.[4]

Political career

In 1947, she was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet, representing the second district of Osaka Prefecture.[4] In 1960, she became the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she was appointed Minister of Health and Welfare by Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda.[1] She served as a minister for five months, stepping down in December 1960.

Later life and death

Nakayama retired from the Diet in 1969, and was succeeded in her seat by her son, Masaaki.[4] Nakayama died of throat cancer at an Osaka hospital on October 11, 1976, aged 85.[5]

Family and descendants

Nakayama and her husband had two sons who also went into national politics: Representative Taro Nakayama and Representative Masaaki Nakayama. Representative Yasuhide Nakayama is her grandson and Masaaki's son.

References
  1. Kapur, Nick (2018). Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0674984424.
  2. Oura Biographies: Rodney H. Powers, Nagasaki Foreign Settlement Research Group, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, June 8, 2006.
  3. Ramsdell, Daniel B. (1992). The Japanese Diet: stability and change in the Japanese House of Representatives, 1890–1990. University Press of America. p. 181. ISBN 0-8191-8494-2.
  4. Imamura, Anne E. (1996). Re-imaging Japanese women. University of California Press. p. 276. ISBN 0-520-20263-5.
  5. "First". Lakeland Ledger. October 12, 1976. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
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