Nobutaka Machimura
Nobutaka Machimura (町村 信孝, Machimura Nobutaka, born October 17, 1944) is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.[1] Currently, he is Chief Cabinet Secretary in the government of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
He attended the University of Tokyo and Wesleyan University in the United States. He was elected to his first term in the House of Representatives in the December 1983 election, and he has been re-elected in each election since. He became Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture on September 11 1997, as part of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's second cabinet, and became State Secretary for Foreign Affairs on July 31 1998, in Keizo Obuchi's first cabinet. In March 2000, he became Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, serving under Obuchi and his successor, Yoshiro Mori. On December 5 2000, he became Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and Director-General of the Science and Technology Agency, before becoming Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on January 6 2001.[1]
He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi from September 27 2004[1] to October 31 2005. His goals included signing a treaty with Russia resolving a border dispute, and investigating the whereabouts of Japanese hostages who were kidnapped by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s. He was replaced by Tarō Asō in the cabinet reshuffle that followed the September 11, 2005 election.
He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs again by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on August 27, 2007.[2] As of 2007, he is the leader of the LDP's largest faction, and on September 14 2007 he backed Yasuo Fukuda's bid to become Abe's successor, following Abe's resignation on September 12.[3]
In Fukuda's government, sworn in on September 26 2007, Machimura became Chief Cabinet Secretary and State Minister in charge of Abduction Issues.[4]
He is the vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union.
Personal life
On December 18 2007, Machimura said at an official press conference that he believes in the existence of UFOs.[5] [6]
References
- ^ a b c "Profile of Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura", Foreign Ministry website.
- ^ Takashi Hirokawa and Stuart Biggs, "Abe Replaces Finance Minister; Aso to Rebuild LDP", Bloomberg.com, August 27, 2007.
- ^ Keiichi Yamamura and Sachiko Sakamaki, "Fukuda Challenges Aso in Race to Be Prime Minister", Bloomberg.com, September 14, 2007.
- ^ "Fukuda Cabinet launched / Changes minimized to reduce impact on Diet business", The Yomiuri Shimbun, September 26, 2007.
- ^ Template:Nl Japanse kabinetssecretaris gelooft in UFO's, NU.nl, December 19, 2007
- ^ BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | UFOs exist, says Japan official
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