Yoshikatsu Nakayama
Yoshikatsu Nakayama is a former Japanese politician and member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 2nd district. He previously served in the House as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan, and now is a member of the Democratic Party for the People.
Career
Nakayama graduated from the Sports Department of the Tokyo University of Education. After serving three terms in the and two terms in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly for the LDP, the NFP and finally the DPJ, he was elected to the House of Representatives in a 1999 by-election in Tokyo 2nd district. The seat had been vacated when Kunio Hatoyama resigned for his unsuccessful campaign for governor of Tokyo. Nakayama was re-elected in the House of Representatives general elections of 2000 and 2003. In 2005, he lost his seat to Liberal Democrat Takashi Fukaya and also failed to win a proportional seat in the Tokyo block. In the landslide Democratic victory of 2009, he regained his district seat.Nakayama has held several Democratic Party posts including vice-chairman of the Diet affairs committee, chairman of the "mobilization committee" and vice-president of the DPJ Tokyo prefectural federation. In the Hatoyama cabinet of 2009, he was special advisor to the prime minister for SME policy and "regional revitalization", during the 1st and 2nd reshuffled Kan cabinets of 2010 and 2011 parliamentary secretary of Economy, Trade and Industry. In the 2011 leadership election, he supported Michihiko Kano's bid for the DPJ presidency and subsequently joined Kano's newly formed faction where he became secretary general. In January 2012, he succeeded Osamu Yoshida as chairman of the House of Representatives economy, trade and industry committee. Later that year he followed Makiko Tanaka who was appointed to the cabinet as chair of the committee on foreign affairs.