Ichiro Nakagawa

Japanese politician (1925–1983)

Ichiro Nakagawa

中川 一郎

Ichiro Nakagawa in 1982

Director General of the Science and Technology Agency
In office
7 July 1980 – 27 November 1982
Prime Minister| Zenkō Suzuki
Preceded by| Yuji Osada
Succeeded by| Takaaki Yasuda
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
In office
5 July 1978 – 7 December 1978
Prime Minister| Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by| Himself
Succeeded by| Michio Watanabe
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
In office
28 November 1977 – 5 July 1978
Prime Minister| Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by| Zenkō Suzuki
Succeeded by| Himself
Personal details
Born| 9 March 1925
Hiroo, Hokkaido, Japan
Died| 9 January 1983(1983-01-09) (aged 57)
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Political party| Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater| Kyushu Imperial University

Ichiro Nakagawa (中川 一郎, Nakagawa Ichirō; 9 March 1925 – 9 January 1983) was a Japanese politician from Hokkaidō. He was a significant leader of the right-wing of the Liberal Democratic Party.

## Biography

[edit]

### Early life and career

[edit]

Ichiro Nakagawa was born on 9 March 1925 in a poor village in Hokkaido, where his family had settled. Nakagawa did well in school and went on to study agriculture at Kyushu University, after which he began working for the Hokkaido Development Agency.[1]

Nakagawa's turn towards politics came due to his encounter with Banboku Ōno, an influential politician who was appointed director general of the Hokkaido Development Agency in 1954. By his own account Nakagawa was called to Ono's office after having slept through his inaugural speech, but Ono was amused rather than annoyed and decided to make Nakagawa his secretary. After Ono left his position, Nakagawa left the agency to become Ono's secretary.[1]

### Diet member

[edit]

With Ono's support, Nakagawa ran as a LDP candidate for Hokkaido 5th district in the 1963 House of Representatives election and was elected.[1][2] Nakagawa joined the Ono faction, but after Ono died in 1964 the faction split between Ono's lieutenants, Naka Funada and Isamu Murakami, and Nakagawa joined the Funada faction.[1] He also developed a close relationship to Takeo Fukuda, whom he twice served under as parliamentary vice minister when Fukuda was minister of finance.[3]

In 1973, Nakagawa, along with Shintaro Ishihara, Michio Watanabe, Koichi Hamada and others, formed a cross-factional rightist group of junior LDP Diet members, called the Seirankai, or Blue Storm Society. Nakagawa was the leader of the Seirankai, which received notoriety for its members signing a pledge in blood.[4][5]

After Takeo Fukuda was elected LDP president and prime minister in December 1976 Nakagawa was made chief of the LDP National Movement Headquarters, and when Fukuda reshuffled his cabinet in November 1977 Nakagawa entered as Minister of Agriculture.[3]

Nakagawa served as director general of the Science and Technology Agency under Zenko Suzuki. He ran in the November 1982 LDP presidential election to succeed Suzuki, but lost in fourth place.[6]

### Death and legacy

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Nakagawa was found to have committed suicide by hanging at a hotel in Sapporo on 9 January 1983.[7] The cause of death was initially reported as a heart attack and Nakagawa's friend and Diet colleague Masaaki Takagi admitted to having asked the physician to cover up the true cause at the urging of the family. Nakagawa did not leave a suicide note and rumours abounded regarding the motive.[8]

## Personal life

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Nakagawa's eldest son was Shōichi Nakagawa, a House of Representatives member.[7] Nakagawa's younger brother is Yoshio Nakagawa.

## References

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### Citations

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1. ^ a b c d Kishima 1991, pp. 78–79.
2. ^ Kishima 1991, p. 81.
3. ^ a b Blaker 2002, pp. 25–26.
4. ^ Kishima 1991, pp. 85–87.
5. ^ Kishima 1991, pp. 89–90.
6. ^ Scott Stokes, Henry (10 January 1983). "Ichiro Nakagawa, 57, Is Dead; Ex-Cabinet Minister in Japan". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
7. ^ a b Ryall, Julian (4 October 2009). "Former Japanese minister Shoichi Nakagawa found dead". The Telegraph. London. Tokyo. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
8. ^ O’Brien, Rod (25 January 1983). "Rumours abound over top politician's death". The Bulletin. Brussels. pp. 93–94. Retrieved 1 September 2024.

### Bibliography

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* Kishima, Takako (1991). Political Life in Japan: Democracy in a Reversible World. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-07895-5. JSTOR j.ctt7ztgq9.
* Blaker, Michael (2002). "Negotiations on Orange Imports, 1977—1988". Case Studies in Japanese Negotiating Behavior. Washington D.C.: United States Institute of Peace.

Political offices

Preceded by

Zenkō Suzuki

|  Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
1977–1978  | Succeeded by

Himself
as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Preceded by

Himself
as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

|  Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
1978  | Succeeded by

Michio Watanabe

Preceded by

Yuji Osada

|  Director General of the Science and Technology Agency
1980–1982  | Succeeded by

Takaaki Yasuda

Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission
1980–1982
House of Representatives (Japan)
Preceded by

Yoshiaki Kibe

|  Chairman of the Transportation Committee
1976  | Succeeded by

Akira Ono

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Japan
* Israel

Academics|

* CiNii

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