Kyoko Nakayama (中山 恭子 Nakayama Kyōko, born January 26, 1940) is a Japanese politician of the Sunrise Party of Japan, formerly of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Machimura Faction, and currently serving her first term as a member of the House of Councillors (Upper House) in the Diet (national legislature). She was Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (naikaku sōri-daijin hosakan) for the North Korean abduction issue under Junichiro Koizumi, beginning in 2002. She left the post in 2004 but was reappointed by Shinzo Abe in 2006. She was appointed by Yasuo Fukuda as State Minister in charge of the Population and Gender Equality Issues on August 1, 2008.[1][2]
A graduate of the University of Tokyo (with a major in French literature), she worked at the Ministry of Finance from 1966 until 2002 and was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 2007. During her campaign, she pledged to resolve the abduction issue. Her husband, Nariaki Nakayama, is a former transport minister.[3]
She joined the Sunrise Party of Japan on June 21, 2010.