is a Japanese politician who has served as the

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japa ...

since August 2022. Nishimura previously served as Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of the

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

since 2003, representing Hyogo’s 9th district. In the second Kishida cabinet, Nishimura is serving as minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; minister in charge of the Response to the Economic Impact Caused by the Nuclear Accident; Green Transformation; Industrial Competitiveness; Economic Cooperation with Russia; and the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation.

Profile and career

Urmas Paet and Yasutoshi Nishimura 20140131

A native of

Akashi, Hyōgo 260px, Akashi City Hall 260px, Akashi fromAkashi Castle is a city in southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 304,274 in 135,323 households and a population density of 6,200 people per km². The total area ...

and a relative of

Akira Fukida Akira may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Akira'' (franchise), a Japanese cyberpunk franchise ** ''Akira'' (manga), a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo ** ''Akira'' (1988 film), an anime film adaptation of the manga ** ''Akira'' (vide ...

, a former Minister of Home Affairs, Nishimura graduated the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as college ...

in 1985.The Cabinet / NISHIMURA Yasutoshi / Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, Minister in charge Economic Revitalization, Minister in charge of Social Security Reform, Minister in charge of Trans-Pacific Partnership
/ref> Nishimura joined the

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and d ...

in 1985 and graduated from

Graduate School Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and st ...

of Public Affairs,

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

in 1992 while in the ministry. In 2003 he was elected for the first time as an independent after running unsuccessfully in 2000. He later joined the LDP. Nishimura was running for the LDP presidential elections which was held September 28, 2009, and came in third after Sadakazu Tanigaki who was elected, and Kōno Tarō. In the 2021 presidential election, Nishimura was the lead sponsor for Sanae Takaishi. Nishimura also served as acting director, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Division of LDP, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Fukuda Cabinet), Deputy Chairman, Policy Research Council of LDP, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of LDP's Shadow Cabinet, Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office. Since September 2019, Nishimura is serving as minister for economic and fiscal policy; economic revitalization; social security reform; the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Si ...

; and as minister for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

response since March 2020. On 8 July 2021, Nishimura announced the government would seek financial institutions "to lobby heircustomers that operate bars and restaurants to comply with government requests to temporarily close" and possibly to withhold loans to holdouts, as well as to request beverage wholesale companies to stop trading with such businesses. The government retracted the policy a day later, however, with the chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato stating "he had instructed Nishimura to be more careful about what he says during news conferences". In 2013, Nishimura has denied the accusation that he used a prostitute during his 2012 visit to Vietnam. In August 2021, Nishimura became the first Suga cabinet minister to visit the controversial

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 re ...

that enshrine the WWII war criminals. The visit was made the day after his remarks urging people to stay-at-home orders during the

Obon or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...

season amid COVID-19 surge across Japan. Nishimura's August 2022 visit to Yasukuni became the first from the Kishida cabinet. Nishimura has stated to push for restarts of more than ten nuclear reactors. Nishimura said the government will keep its stakes in Sakhalin-II, one of the world’s largest integrated and export-oriented oil and gas projects, owned by Gazprom, Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi.

Ideology

Nishimura is affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

, He advocates its main causes, which are: the revision of the constitution, the right for collective self-defense (revision of

Article 9 Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: ...

), visits to the

controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite ...

.Yasutoshi website
yasutoshi.jp/activity/?id=1253797203
(retrieved Dec 12, 2014) Nishimura is also a member of several

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, autho ...

Diet groups, including: * * - NB: SAS a.k.a. Sinseiren, Shinto Political League *(as the chairman) * * *

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese {{DEFAULTSORT:Nishimura, Yasutoshi Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Living people Members of Nippon Kaigi 1962 births Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians Politicians from Hyōgo Prefecture People from Akashi, Hyōgo University of Tokyo alumni