Masaharu Nakagawa (中川 正春) is a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party. A native of Matsusaka, Mie and graduate of Georgetown University in the United States he was elected for the first time in 1996 after serving in the local assembly of Mie Prefecture. In September 2011 he was appointed as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the cabinet of newly appointed prime minister Yoshihiko Noda.