Nobusuke

Nobusuke is a masculine given name of Japanese origin. In Japanese, given names are formed from kanji characters, and Nobusuke is most commonly written with the characters 信介, where 信 means "faith" or "trust" and 介 means "mediator" or "help." However, other kanji combinations are possible, and the meaning varies with the chosen characters.

The name is most notable for Nobusuke Kishi (岸信介) (1896–1987), a prominent Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Kishi held several government positions earlier in his career and played a significant role in shaping postwar Japanese policy, including the development of the U.S.–Japan security alliance and the handling of the 1960 treaty dispute with the United States. He remained an influential figure in conservative circles and was the father of Shintaro Abe and the grandfather of Shinzo Abe, who served as Prime Minister in 2006–2007 and 2012–2020.

Beyond Kishi, the given name Nobusuke is relatively rare in contemporary Japan, and there are fewer widely documented individuals with this exact name in English-language sources. Nevertheless, it remains part of the spectrum of traditional Japanese names that employ classical kanji forms.