PROFILE: Industry minister Nishimura vital in Fukushima water release

Yasutoshi Nishimura was retained as the economy, trade and industry minister, a post that oversees nuclear power plants in the country, after playing a key role in the start of the discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

Nishimura, 60, also took charge of Japan’s fight against the novel coronavirus as a member of the Cabinet under the premierships of Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe.

The seven-term House of Representatives member from Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, is a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction, once l...