Yasutoshi Nishimura (born 15 October 1962) was an LDP member of the Japanese House of Representatives from 10 November 2003 and Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister from 10 August 2022 to 14 December 2023 (succeeding Koichi Hagiuda and preceding Ken Saito).
Biography[]
Yasutoshi Nishimura was born in Akashi, Hyogo Province, Japan in 1962, and he worked for the International Trade and Industry Ministry during the 1980s before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2003. He served as Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy from 2019 to 2021 and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2022 to 2023, and his political career was rife with scandal; he allegedly used a prostitute during a 2012 visit to Vietnam, visited the Yasukuni Shrine during COVID-19, and hosted on his official website a gallery of street photography of random women whom he deemed "beauties from around the world." In November 2023, he and several other cabinet ministers resigned after being implicated in receiving slush fund money.