19 Facts About Ryuichi Yoneyama

Ryuichi Yoneyama is a Japanese politician and a former Governor of Niigata Prefecture.

Ryuichi Yoneyama was born in Yunotani, Niigata, as Ryuichi Aiko; he changed his surname to Yoneyama when he entered middle school after his father was adopted into his mother's family.

Ryuichi Yoneyama graduated from the prestigious Nada High School in 1986, ranking fifth among his cohort.

Ryuichi Yoneyama then took the common first-stage exam for admission into the University of Tokyo and obtained 960 out of 1000 available points, the highest among his peers who had applied to the university.

Ryuichi Yoneyama cited the arrogance of the university's law students as his motivation for taking the exam.

Ryuichi Yoneyama took up some modules from the university's School of Economics and Medicine between 1998 and 2000 without officially enrolling into any degree.

Ryuichi Yoneyama obtained a PhD from the University of Tokyo in 2003.

Ryuichi Yoneyama was recruited by the Liberal Democratic Party to become their candidate for the Niigata 5th district in the 2005 general election.

Ryuichi Yoneyama had a rematch with Tanaka in the 2009 election.

Ryuichi Yoneyama recontested the Niigata-5th seat in the 2012 election as a member of the Japan Restoration Party, this time finishing third.

Ryuichi Yoneyama would follow the party in its two subsequent mergers, first into the Japan Innovation Party and later into the Democratic Party.

Ryuichi Yoneyama was selected as the opposition's unity candidate, garnering the support of the SDP, LP and JCP.

Ryuichi Yoneyama's candidacy was supported by the full force of opposition politicians, including DP president Renho, DP deputy president Kenji Eda, Niigata Councillor Naoki Kazama and newly-elected Councillor Yuko Mori.

Ryuichi Yoneyama's election was hailed as a major victory of the anti-nuclear power movement at that time.

Ryuichi Yoneyama pursued a very cautious approach towards restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant during his time in office.

Ryuichi Yoneyama established a nuclear advisory committee early on his term to review the power plant's safeguards and the prefecture's nuclear disaster preparedness.

Ryuichi Yoneyama's resignation triggered an early gubernatorial election in June 2018 and the nuclear debate was expected to heavily feature in the campaign.

Ryuichi Yoneyama said that he hoped his nuclear policies would be continued by his successor.

Ryuichi Yoneyama ruled out returning to politics in the short term.