Career
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 Keizō Obuchi's first cabinet. In March 2000, he became Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, serving under Obuchi and his successor, Yoshirō 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.
He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs again by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on August 27, 2007. In 2006, Machimura became chairman of the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, the LDP's largest faction. As such, on September 14, 2007 he backed Yasuo Fukuda's bid to become Abe's successor, following Abe's resignation on September 12. Since 2007, Machimura co-chairs his faction alongside Hidenao Nakagawa and Shūzen Tanigawa.
In Fukuda's government, sworn in on September 26, 2007, Machimura became Chief Cabinet Secretary and State Minister in charge of Abduction Issues. He was replaced by Takeo Kawamura in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, which was appointed on 24 September 2008.
He is the vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union.
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