is a former

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese politician who served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

. A native of

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

and a graduate of

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1976. After winning 14 elections in a row without a single defeat at the polls, he lost to Keiko Nagaoka in the election of October 21, 2021.

Biography

Early life

Born in the town of

in Ibaraki, his birth name was Shin Nakamura (中村伸). Both his parents were involved in politics and both became members of the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the Diet; his father and namesake from 1965 to 1971 and his mother, Tomi Nakamura, from 1972 to 1977. He graduated from Keimei Gakuen High School, a Protestant school in

Akishima, Tokyo is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 113,542, and a population density of 6500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geograp ...

. In 1972, he graduated from the

College of Law; prior to graduating, he began working in the office of

Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who ...

, serving as Tanaka's private secretary. Nakamura would later mimic how Tanaka interacted with his constituents and the contents of his speeches.

First election and name change

In the

1976 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 5 December 1976. Voter turnout was 73.45%. This election was noted for seeing 124 newcomers win seats for the first time, along with the defeat of some legacy candidates, signalling a generational shift in ...

, running as an independent, Nakamura was elected to the House of Representatives for Ibaraki District 3. For the election, he had changed his legal name to Kishiro Nakamura ("Junior"), and thus inherited the support network developed over the years by his father, Kishiro Nakamura ("Senior"). Nakamura later joined the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Bribery Conviction

In 1994 Nakamura became involved in a political corruption case concerning construction companies buying favors from lawmakers, known as ''zenekon oshoku'' ("general contractor corruption"). Nakamura was arrested suspected of receiving bribes from the

Kajima is one of the oldest and largest construction companies in Japan. Founded in 1840, the company has its headquarters in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. The company is known for its DIB-200 proposal. The company stock is traded on four leading Japa ...

Corporation. Nakamura left the Liberal Democrats but managed to remain in the Diet throughout several elections by running as an independent while the case was going through the courts. In January 2003 he lost his appeal to the

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It has the power of judicial review, which allows it ...

, his prison sentence was finalized and he lost his Diet seat.

Reelection & Retirement

Nakamura was released from prison in January 2004. In the 2005 general election he regained his seat in the

Ibaraki 7th district Ibaraki 7th district (茨城県第7区, ''Ibaraki-ken dai-nanaku'' or simply 茨城7区, ''Ibaraki-nanaku '') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan located in Ibaraki Prefecture. Areas covere ...

and held unto it until 2021. In the 2021 general election he ran as a member of the

Constitutional Democratic Party The Constitutional Democratic Party (, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies� ...

and lost for the first time in his career but managed to gain a seat through the

Northern Kanto proportional representation block The Northern Kanto proportional representation block (北関東比例ブロック, ''Kantō hokubu hirei burokku'') is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) blocks for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of the ...

. Before the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

Nakamura announced his retirement from politics. His son Hayato Nakamura ran in his stead and gained his father's old seat in the Ibaraki 7th.

Notes

References

External links