Her husband, Shōichi Nakagawa, was also a politician, serving as Minister of Finance of Japan in 2008 and 2009.

Nakagawa was born in Niigata Prefecture and graduated from University of the Sacred Heart in 1981.

She worked at Mitsubishi for a year until her marriage to Shōichi, and moved to Hokkaido shortly afterward.

[4] After being re-elected in the 2014 election, Nakagawa came under controversy in March 2015, when a photograph was released where she was kissing fellow politician Hirofumi Kado; Nakagawa later apologized for the incident, and LDP President Shinzo Abe offered his continued support after the leak.

She lost, 54.5 to 45.5 percent, and the kiss with Kado was considered by the media to be the primary reason why she was defeated.