Gen Nakatani

Gen Nakatani
中谷 元
Minister of Defense
In office
24 December 2014 – 3 August 2016
Prime MinisterShinzō Abe
Preceded byAkinori Eto
Succeeded byTomomi Inada
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office
4 April 2001 – 30 September 2002
Prime MinisterYoshirō Mori
Junichirō Koizumi
Preceded byToshitsugu Saito
Succeeded byShigeru Ishiba
Member of the House of Representatives for the Kōchi 1st district
Assumed office
14 December 2014
Preceded byTeru Fukui
Member of the House of Representatives for the Kōchi 2nd district
In office
20 October 1996 – 21 November 2014
Preceded byNew district
Succeeded byYuji Yamamoto
Member of the House of Representatives for the Kōchi at-large district
In office
19 February 1990 – 27 September 1996
Preceded byIzumi Inoue [ja], Masataro Hiraishi [ja], Masao Onishi [ja], Ryohei Tamura [ja]
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
Personal details
Born (1957-10-14) 14 October 1957 (age 66)
Kōchi
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
Alma materNational Defense Academy
Military service
Allegiance Japan
Branch/service Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Years of service1980–1984
RankFirst Lieutenant

Gen Nakatani (中谷 元, Nakatani Gen, born 14 October 1957) is a Japanese politician who was Director General of the Japan Defense Agency (now Japan Ministry of Defense) in the first cabinet of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2001-2002 and was appointed the Minister of Defense by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014.[1][2]

  1. ^ Ko Shu-ling; J. Michael Cole (6 October 2010). "Security experts warn on China threat". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  2. ^ Sachiko Sakamaki; Takashi Hirokawa (26 May 2009). "Japan Should Consider Pre-emptive Strikes, LDP Lawmaker Says". Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 January 2011.