16 Facts About Nobutaka Machimura

Nobutaka Machimura was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Nobutaka Machimura was Chief Cabinet Secretary in the government of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008 and twice Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the cabinets of Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe.

Nobutaka Machimura resigned as the Speaker of the House of Representatives on 21 April 2015 after suffering from a stroke.

Nobutaka Machimura's father was Kingo Machimura the Governor of Hokkaido and his grandfather was Kinya Machimura one of the founders of Hokkaido's dairy industry.

Nobutaka Machimura was elected to his first term in the House of Representatives in the December 1983 election, and he was re-elected in each election since.

Nobutaka Machimura became Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture on 11 September 1997, as part of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's second cabinet, and became State Secretary for Foreign Affairs on 31 July 1998, in Keizo Obuchi's first cabinet.

Nobutaka Machimura was the Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi from 27 September 2004 to 31 October 2005.

Nobutaka Machimura's goals included signing a treaty with Russia relations with China and Korea form leader resolving a border dispute, and investigating the whereabouts of Japanese hostages who were kidnapped by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s.

Nobutaka Machimura was replaced by Taro Aso in the cabinet reshuffle that followed the 11 September 2005 election.

Nobutaka Machimura was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs again by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 27 August 2007.

In 2006, Nobutaka Machimura became chairman of the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai, the LDP's largest faction.

Since 2007, Nobutaka Machimura had co-chaired his faction alongside Hidenao Nakagawa and Shuzen Tanigawa.

In Fukuda's government, sworn in on 16 September 2007, Nobutaka Machimura became Chief Cabinet Secretary and State Minister in charge of abduction issues.

Nobutaka Machimura was replaced by Takeo Kawamura in the cabinet of prime minister Taro Aso, which was appointed on 24 September 2008.

Nobutaka Machimura was the vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union.

On 18 December 2007, Nobutaka Machimura said at an official press conference that he believed in the existence of UFOs.