Nobutaka Machimura

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = Junior Second Rank

| name = Nobutaka Machimura

| native_name = {{nobold|町村信孝}}

| native_name_lang = ja

| image = Nobutaka Machimura 2005.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2005

| office = Speaker of the House of Representatives

| term_start = 24 December 2014

| term_end = 21 April 2015

| monarch = Akihito

| predecessor = Bunmei Ibuki

| successor = Tadamori Oshima

| office1 = Chief Cabinet Secretary

| primeminister1 = Yasuo Fukuda

| term_start1 = 26 September 2007

| term_end1 = 24 September 2008

| predecessor1 = Kaoru Yosano

| successor1 = Takeo Kawamura

| office2 = Minister for Foreign Affairs

| term_start2 = 27 August 2007

| term_end2 = 26 September 2007

| primeminister2 = Shinzō Abe

| predecessor2 = Tarō Asō

| successor2 = Masahiko Kōmura

| term_start3 = 27 September 2004

| term_end3 = 21 September 2005

| primeminister3 = Junichiro Koizumi

| predecessor3 = Yoriko Kawaguchi

| successor3 = Tarō Asō

| office4 = Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

| term_start4 = 6 January 2001

| term_end4 = 26 April 2001

| primeminister4 = Yoshirō Mori

| predecessor4 = Office established

| successor4 = Toyama Atsuko

| office5 = Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture

| term_start5 = 5 December 2000

| term_end5 = 6 January 2001

| primeminister5 = Yoshirō Mori

| predecessor5 = Tadamori Ōshima

| successor5 = Office abolished

| term_start6 = 11 September 1997

| term_end6 = 30 July 1998

| primeminister6 = Ryutaro Hashimoto

| predecessor6 = Takashi Kosugi

| successor6 = Akito Arima

| office7 = Member of the House of Representatives

| term_start7 = 25 October 2010

| term_end7 = 1 June 2015

| constituency7 = Hokkaido 5th

| predecessor7 = Chiyomi Kobayashi

| successor7 = Yoshiaki Wada

| term_start8 = 19 December 1983

| term_end8 = 1 October 2010

| constituency8 = Hokkaido 1st (1983–1996)
Hokkaido 5th (1996–2009)
Hokkaido PR (2009–2010)

| predecessor8 =

| successor8 =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|10|17|df=y}}

| birth_place = Numazu, Japan

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2015|6|1|1944|10|17}}

| death_place = Tokyo, Japan

| party = Liberal Democratic

| alma_mater = University of Tokyo
Wesleyan University

| signature = Nobutaka Machimura signature.svg

}}

{{nihongo|Nobutaka Machimura|町村信孝|Machimura Nobutaka|extra=17 October 1944 – 1 June 2015}} was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/hq/profile/machimura.html "Profile of Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura"], Foreign Ministry website. He 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 Shinzō Abe. He resigned as the Speaker of the House of Representatives on 21 April 2015 after suffering from a stroke.{{cite web|title=Lower House approves Machimura's resignation, selects Oshima as successor|date=21 April 2015 |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/21/national/politics-diplomacy/lower-house-approves-machimuras-resignation-selects-oshima-successor/|publisher=The Japan Times|access-date=30 April 2015}}

Early life and education

Machimura was born on 17 October 1944. His father was Kingo Machimura the Governor of Hokkaido (1959–1971) and his grandfather was Kinya Machimura one of the founders of Hokkaido's dairy industry. Machimura attended the University of Tokyo and Wesleyan University in the United States.

Career

File:070922 rice Machimura 500.jpg in September 2007]]

File:Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet 20070926.jpg

File:Leader Pelosi and Members of Congressional Delegation Meet Japan's House Speaker Machimura (16877282899).jpg in April 2015]]

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. He 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 Keizō Obuchi's first cabinet. In March 2000, he became Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, serving under Obuchi and his successor, Yoshirō Mori. On 5 December 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 6 January 2001.

He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi from 27 September 2004 to 31 October 2005. His 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. He was replaced by Tarō Asō in the cabinet reshuffle that followed the 11 September 2005 election.

He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs again by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on 27 August 2007.Takashi Hirokawa and Stuart Biggs, [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoUfAODra2jY&refer=home "Abe Replaces Finance Minister; Aso to Rebuild LDP"], Bloomberg, 27 August 2007. In 2006, Machimura became chairman of the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, the LDP's largest faction.{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061020a7.html|access-date=2 February 2009|date=20 October 2006|publisher=The Japan Times|title=Machimura takes top LDP faction}} As such, on 14 September 2007, he backed Yasuo Fukuda's bid to become Abe's successor, following Abe's resignation on 12 September.Keiichi Yamamura and Sachiko Sakamaki, [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aY0ClrGXIrYE&refer=japan "Fukuda Challenges Aso in Race to Be Prime Minister"], Bloomberg, 14 September 2007. Since 2007, Machimura had co-chaired his faction alongside Hidenao Nakagawa and Shūzen Tanigawa.{{in lang|ja}} [http://www.seiwaken.jp/seiwaken/seiwaken.html Official faction website: List of chairmen]

In Fukuda's government, sworn in on 16 September 2007, Machimura became Chief Cabinet Secretary and State Minister in charge of abduction issues.[http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070926TDY01002.htm "Fukuda Cabinet launched / Changes minimized to reduce impact on Diet business"], The Yomiuri Shimbun, 26 September 2007. He was replaced by Takeo Kawamura in the cabinet of prime minister Taro Aso, which was appointed on 24 September 2008.[http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080925TDY01303.htm "Aso elected premier / Announces Cabinet lineup himself; poll likely on 2 November"], The Yomiuri Shimbun, 25 September 2008.

He was the vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Personal life

On 18 December 2007, Machimura said at an official press conference that he believed in the existence of UFOs.{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.nu.nl/news/1360223/122/rss/Japanse_kabinetssecretaris_gelooft_in_UFO%27s.html Japanse kabinetssecretaris gelooft in UFO's], NU.nl, 19 December 2007{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7150156.stm|publisher=BBC|title=UFOs exist, says Japan official|date=18 December 2007| access-date=20 May 2010}}

On 1 June 2015, he died after a cerebral infarction at a hospital in Tokyo.{{cite news | url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002191161 | title=Ex-lower house Speaker Machimura dies at 70 | date=1 June 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602015608/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002191161 | archive-date=2 June 2015 | newspaper=The Japan News | access-date=30 June 2015 }}