Ritsuko Nagao
Ritsuko Nagao was a Japanese politician who was the first woman to serve as the Minister of [Justice (Japan)|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.