Shozaburo Nakamura

Shozaburo Nakamura (中村 正三郎, Nakamura Shōzaburō, 1934 – 1 September 2023) was a Japanese business leader and politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Japan and was the Minister of Justice from 1998 to 1999.^[1]

Shozaburo Nakamura
中村 正三郎
Official portrait, 1998
Minister of Justice
In office 30 July 1998 – 8 March 1999
Prime Minister	Keizō Obuchi
Preceded by	Kokichi Shimoinaba
Succeeded by	Takao Jinnouchi
Director-General of the Environmental Agency
In office 5 November 1991 – 12 December 1992
Prime Minister	Kiichi Miyazawa
Preceded by	Kazuo Aichi
Succeeded by	Taikan Hayashi
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 7 October 1979 – 8 August 2005
Constituency	Chiba 3rd (1979–1996) Southern Kanto PR (1996–2000; 2003–2005) Chiba 12th (2000–2003)
Personal details
Born	(1934-07-18)18 July 1934 Miyoshi, Chiba, Japan
Died	1 September 2023(2023-09-01) (aged 89)
Political party	Liberal Democratic

Early life and career

Shozaburo Nakamura was born in 1934.^[2] He was a business leader.^[3] He served in the lower house of the Japanese Diet.^[3] He also held the positions of state minister for the environment agency and parliamentary vice-minister for finance.^[4]

Nakamura was appointed Justice Minister in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on 30 July 1998.^[5] Nakamura replaced Kokichi Shimoinaba as Justice Minister.^[2] Nakamura's term ended on 8 March 1999 when he resigned from office over the controversy sparked when Arnold Schwarzenegger was allowed to enter Japan without a passport in October 1998.^[6][7] Takao Jinnouchi became Justice Minister on 8 March 1999, replacing Nakamura in the post.^[8]

Personal life and death

Nakamura was among the richest members of the lower house and was ranked fourth with assets worth about 1.5 billion yen in 2000.^[9]

Shozaburo Nakamura died on 1 September 2023, at the age of 89.^[10]