Shōichi Nakagawa

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Shōichi Nakagawa
Minister of Finance of Japan
In office September 24, 2008 – February 17, 2009
Preceded by	Bunmei Ibuki
Succeeded by	Kaoru Yosano
Born	July 19, 1953 (1953-07-19) (age 55) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Tokyo

Shōichi Nakagawa (中川 昭一, Nakagawa Shōichi^?, born July 19, 1953) is a Japanese conservative politician in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who served as Minister of Finance until February 17, 2009. He previously held the posts of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi.

Contents 1 Political career 1.1 Incoherent conference 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Political career

Nakagawa was born in Tokyo and attended Azabu High School, graduated from the law faculty of the University of Tokyo in 1978 and entered the Industrial Bank of Japan.

His father, prominent Hokkaidō politician Ichiro Nakagawa, mysteriously committed suicide in a hotel in 1983. Although Shoichi was born in Tokyo and had lived there his whole life, he ran to replace his father and succeeded him. At that time, he had a widely publicized conflict with his father's secretary, Muneo Suzuki, who also ran for a seat in a neighboring district. (Suzuki was forced to resign on corruption charges in 2002.)

In 1998, he became Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, and in 2003, he became Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He served as Agriculture Minister from October 2005 to September 2006, when incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe appointed Nakagawa as chairman of the Policy Research Council of the LDP.

In December 2006, Kyodo News Agency quoted Nakagawa as having said the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "truly unforgivable on humanitarian grounds" and reported the politician's concerns over the possession of nuclear weapons by North Korea.^[1]

Nakagawa's views are close to those of Abe. In particular, both support nationalism in history education, a hard-line stance regarding North Korea and constitutional amendments. It should however be noted that, whereas the former is an outspoken supporter of nuclear development policies, the latter has on several occasions stated he does not endorse such measures.

Furthemore, while Abe has made efforts to relink ties with neighbouring China, Nakagawa officially voiced his concern over the country's growing military expenditure, claiming that, were the situation in Taiwan to deteriorate, Japan would become, by 2020, a Chinese colony.^[2]

On January 6, 2007, in an interview with a reporter from the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Nakagawa stated "Women have their proper place: they should be womanly.... They have their own abilities and these should be fully exercised, for example in flower arranging, sewing, or cooking. It's not a matter of good or bad, but we need to accept reality that men and women are genetically different"^[3] However, these comments were not widely noticed by the Japanese public.

In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008, Nakagawa was appointed as Minister of Finance and Minister of State in charge of Financial Services.^[4]

[edit] Incoherent conference

During the G7 meeting of finance ministers in Rome on February 14, 2009, Nakagawa was seen to be slurring his words and exhibiting other odd behavior, which some attributed to alcohol.^[5][6] However, he stated that the reason for his drowsiness and slurred speech was that he had taken too much cold medicine before the meeting.

Despite calls for his resignation by opposition parties at the time, Nakagawa did not immediately resign; Prime Minister Taro Aso supported him and called for him to continue his duties as Finance Minister.^[7] However, on February 17 Nakagawa announced that he had chosen to resign, and his resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Aso that evening.^[8]

Approximately 15 minutes after the end of the press conference, Nakagawa visited the Vatican Museums using public funds. He touched various exhibits, even though touching the exhibits is prohibited. Additionally, he climbed over a protective barrier surrounding Laocoon, setting off an alarm, and then proceeded to sit on the exhibit. Nakagawa's office admits that he entered an off-limits area and that he set off the alarm, and apologised for "causing inconvenience"^[9].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Shoichi Nakagawa's Profile

Political offices
Preceded by Bunmei Ibuki	Minister of Finance of Japan 2008 - 2009	Succeeded by Kaoru Yosano
Preceded by Toshimitsu Motegi	Minister of State for Financial Services of Japan 2008 - 2009	Succeeded by Kaoru Yosano
Preceded by Mineichi Iwanaga	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan 2005 - 2006	Succeeded by Toshikatsu Matsuoka
Preceded by Takeo Hiranuma	Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan 2003 - 2005	Succeeded by Toshihiro Nikai
Preceded by Yoshinobu Shimamura	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan 1998 - 1999	Succeeded by Tokuichiro Tamazawa