細川護熙
After Endo's death, Nikai returned to Wakayama, where he won a seat on the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly in 1975. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1983. He was a member of Noboru Takeshita's faction within the Liberal Democratic Party, but left the party in 1993 to join the Japan Renewal Party ("Shinseitō"). As a member of the JRP, he served as Vice-Minister of Transportation under Morihiro Hosokawa in 1990.