Ritsuko Nagao
Ritsuko Nagao was a Japanese politician who was the first woman to serve as the Minister of Justice.
In 1996, Nagao was appointed to the Cabinet of Japan as the Minister of Justice by Ryutaro Hashimoto, where she was the only woman and only appointee who was not a member of Parliament already. Before her appointment as the Minister of Justice, she worked as a bureaucrat in the Health and Welfare Ministry.
Nagao died on 10 January 2026, at the age of 92.