Topic: Nobutaka Machimura

Nobutaka Machimura (町村 信孝, Machimura Nobutaka?, born October 17, 1944) is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He was Chief Cabinet Secretary in the government of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008.

He attended the University of Tokyo and Wesleyan University in the United States. He was elected to his first term in the House of Representatives in the December 1983 election, and he has been re-elected in each election since. He became Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture on September 11, 1997, as part of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's second cabinet, and became State Secretary for Foreign Affairs on July 31, 1998, in Keizo Obuchi's first cabinet. In March 2000, he became Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, serving under Obuchi and his successor, Yoshiro Mori. On December 5, 2000, he became Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and Director-General of the Science and Technology Agency, before becoming Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on January 6, 2001.

He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi from September 27, 2004 to October 31, 2005. His goals included signing a treaty with Russia resolving a border dispute, and investigating the whereabouts of Japanese hostages who were kidnapped by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s. He was replaced by Tarō Asō in the cabinet reshuffle that followed the September 11, 2005 election.