Fukushiro Nukaga

Fukushiro Nukaga (額賀 福志郎, Nukaga Fukushirō, born 11 January 1944) is a Japanese politician and 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 Minister of Finance from 2007[2] to 2008.

Fukushiro Nukaga
額賀 福志郎
Minister of Finance of Japan
In office 27 August 2007 – 2 August 2008
Prime Minister	Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by	Koji Omi
Succeeded by	Bunmei Ibuki
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office 31 October 2005 – 26 September 2006
Prime Minister	Junichiro Koizumi
Preceded by	Yoshinori Ohno
Succeeded by	Fumio Kyūma
Ministry of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
In office 6 January 2001 – 23 January 2001
Prime Minister	Yoshirō Mori
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Tarō Asō
Head of the Economic Planning Agency
In office 5 December 2000 – 6 January 2001
Prime Minister	Yoshirō Mori
Preceded by	Taichi Sakaiya
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office 5 October 1999 – 4 July 2000
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi Yoshirō Mori
Preceded by	Muneo Suzuki
Succeeded by	Shinzō Abe
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office 30 July 1998 – 20 November 1998
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Fumio Kyūma
Succeeded by	Hosei Norota
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office 11 September 1997 – 30 July 1998
Prime Minister	Ryutaro Hashimoto
Preceded by	Yosano Kaoru
Succeeded by	Muneo Suzuki Mitsuhiro Uesugi
Personal details
Born	(1944-01-11) 11 January 1944 Namegata District, Ibaraki, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater	Waseda 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", 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.

House of Representatives of Japan
Preceded by Multi-member constituency	Representative for Ibaraki 1st District 1983–1996	Succeeded by Office abolished
Preceded by Office created	Representative for Ibaraki 2nd District 1996–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Fumio Kyūma	Chair, Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives 1996–1997	Succeeded by Seiichiro Murakami
New title	Chair, Board of Oversight and Review of Specially Designated Secrets of the House of Representatives 2015–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Yosano Kaoru	Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary 1997–1998	Succeeded by Muneo Suzuki, Mitsuhiro Uesugi
Preceded by Fumio Kyūma	Head of the Japanese Defense Agency 1998	Succeeded by Hosei Norota
Preceded by Muneo Suzuki	Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary 1999–2000	Succeeded by Shinzō Abe
Preceded by Taichi Sakaiya	Head of the Economic Planning Agency 2000–2001	Succeeded by Himself as Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
Preceded by Himself as Head of the Economic Planning Agency	Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy 2001	Succeeded by Tarō Asō
Preceded by Yoshinori Ohno	Head of the Japanese Defense Agency 2005–2006	Succeeded by Fumio Kyūma
Preceded by Koji Omi	Minister of Finance of Japan 2007–2008	Succeeded by Bunmei Ibuki
Party political offices
Preceded by Masayasu Kitagawa	Director, Youth Division of the Liberal Democratic Party 1989–1990	Succeeded by Shōichi Nakagawa
Preceded by Tarō Asō	Chair, Policy Research Council of the Liberal Democratic Party 2003–2004	Succeeded by Yosano Kaoru
Preceded by Yūji Tsushima	Head of Heisei Kenkyūkai 2009–2018	Succeeded by TBD