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Gen Nakatani

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Japanese politician (born 1957)

Gen Nakatani
中谷 元
Official portrait, 2024
Minister of Defense
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2024
Prime MinisterShigeru Ishiba
Preceded byMinoru Kihara
In office
24 December 2014 – 3 August 2016
Prime MinisterShinzo Abe
Preceded byAkinori Eto
Succeeded byTomomi Inada
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office
4 April 2001 – 30 September 2002
Prime MinisterYoshirō Mori
Junichiro Koizumi
Preceded byToshitsugu Saito
Succeeded byShigeru Ishiba
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 February 1990
ConstituencyKōchi at-large (1990–1996)
Kōchi 2nd (1996–2014)
Kōchi 1st (2014–present)
Personal details
Born (1957-10-14) 14 October 1957 (age 67)
Kōchi, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic
Alma materNational Defense Academy
Military service
Allegiance Japan
Branch/service Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Years of service1980–1984
RankFirst Lieutenant

Gen Nakatani (中谷 元, Nakatani Gen, born 14 October 1957) is a Japanese politician who was Director General of the Japan Defense Agency (now Japan Ministry of Defense) in the first cabinet of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2001-2002 and was appointed the Minister of Defense by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014. Nakatani was again named to the position of Minister of Defense for the cabinet of Shigeru Ishiba in 2024.

Early life and education

Nakatani was born in Kōchi and attended the National Defense Academy of Japan. He served for four years as a commissioned officer in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (20th Infantry Regiment and Airborne Training Unit).

Political career

Nakatani first ran for elected office as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the 1990 general election and won one of five seats representing Kōchi Prefecture, and held this seat in the 1993 general election. Following electoral reform in 1994 that divided Kōchi into three single-member districts, he successfully contested the Kōchi 2nd district in the 1996 general election and held this seat until the 2014 general election, when he switched to the Kōchi 1st district; the abolishment of the Kōchi 3rd district required the Liberal Democratic Party's Kōchi members to switch seats so that they could all remain in office. Yuji Yamamoto, who had held the 3rd district since 1996, switched to the 2nd district. Meanwhile Teru Fukui, who had held the 1st district since 1996, switched to the Shikoku proportional representation block.

Nakatani supported Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki's no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in 2000, and was appointed to head the Japan Defense Agency under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the following year.

On 28 April 2015, Nakatani was among the guests invited to the state dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in Abe’s honor at the White House.

Political positions

In a joint letter initiated by Norbert Röttgen and Anthony Gonzalez ahead of the 47th G7 summit in 2021, Nakatani joined some 70 legislators from Europe and the US in calling upon their leaders to take a tough stance on China and to "avoid becoming dependent" on the country for technology including artificial intelligence and 5G.

Notes

References

  1. Ko Shu-ling; J. Michael Cole (6 October 2010). "Security experts warn on China threat". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  2. Sachiko Sakamaki; Takashi Hirokawa (26 May 2009). "Japan Should Consider Pre-emptive Strikes, LDP Lawmaker Says". Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  3. "New Japan cabinet: Kato to be named finance minister, Iwaya as foreign minister". Nikkei Asia. 30 September 2024.
  4. Veronica Toney (28 April 2015), Complete guest list for the state dinner honoring Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Washington Post.
  5. Stuart Lau (January 25, 2021), G7 lawmakers tell leaders to ‘stand up’ to China Politico Europe.
Political offices
Preceded byAkinori Eto Minister of Defense
2014–2016 		Succeeded byTomomi Inada
Preceded byMinoru Kihara Minister of Defense
2024–present 		Incumbent
First Ishiba Cabinet
MinistersShigeru Ishiba
Defense Ministers of Japan
Defence ministers of the Group of Seven


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