Kiichi Miyazawa (宮澤 喜一, Miyazawa Kiichi, 8 October 1919 – 28 June 2007[1]) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993. He was a member of the National Diet of Japan for over 50 years.
Early life and education
Miyazawa was born into a wealthy, politically active family in Fukuyama, Hiroshima,[2] on 8 October 1919, as the eldest son of politician Yutaka Miyazawa and his wife Koto. His father was a member of the Diet,[2][3] and his mother was the daughter of politician Ogawa Heikichi, who served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Railways. Following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Miyazawa lived at his grandfather Ogawa Heikichi's villa Kasuian in Hiratsuka. At the time, his father Yutaka worked for Yamashita Kisen, whilst planning to move his political career from Hiroshima Prefecture to the National Diet.[4] Miyazawa graduated from Faculty of Law, Imperial University of Tokyo.[2]
Career
In 1942, Miyazawa joined the Ministry of Finance, avoiding military service during World War II.[2] While in the Ministry, he became a protégé of future prime minister Hayato Ikeda.
In 1953, at Ikeda's urging, Miyazawa ran for and won election to the Upper House of the National Diet, where he remained until moving to the Lower House in 1967.[2] As a leading figure in Ikeda's Kōchikai policy group, Miyazawa was considered a member of Ikeda's "brains trust."[5] In 1961, Miyazawa accompanied Ikeda to a summit meeting with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and due to his excellent English, served as Ikeda's sole translator during the latter's "yacht talks" with Kennedy on Kennedy's presidential yacht, the Honey Fitz.[6]
Beginning with the Ikeda cabinet, Miyazawa held a number of important government posts, including Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1962-1964), Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1966-1968), Minister of International Trade and Industry (1970–1971), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974–1976), Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1977–1978), and Chief Cabinet Secretary (1984–1986). He became Minister of Finance under the government of Noboru Takeshita in July 1986. However, Miyazawa had to resign from this post amid the Recruit scandal in 1988.[1]
Prime minister
Miyazawa became Prime Minister on 5 November 1991 backed by his faction.[7] Miyazawa gained brief fame in the United States when President George H. W. Bush vomited in his lap and fainted during a state dinner on 8 January 1992.
In 1992, while he was in South Korea, he formally apologized for Japan's use of comfort women, making him the first Japanese leader to acknowledge that Japan's military coerced women into sexual slavery before and during the second world war.[2]
His government passed a law allowing Japan to send its forces overseas for peacekeeping missions as well as negotiating a trade agreement with the United States. It also introduced financial reforms to address the growing economic malaise in Japan in the 1990s. Miyazawa resigned in 1993 after losing a vote of no confidence marking an end to 38 years of Liberal Democratic Party government.[1] The reason for the vote was a scandal involving Fumio Abe, a member of Miyazawa's faction.[7] The Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in June 1994.
Subsequent career
Miyazawa later returned to frontbench politics when he was once again appointed finance minister from 1998 to 2001 in the governments of Keizō Obuchi and Yoshirō Mori. In 1998, Miyazawa replaced Hikaru Matsunaga as finance minister.[8][9] He served a total of 14 terms in both upper and lower houses before retiring from politics in 2003.[2][10] The reason for his retirement was that then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi set an age limit of 73 for LDP political candidates.[11]
Personal life
Miyazawa married while studying in the United States. He and his wife, Yoko, had two children: Hiro, an architect, and Keiko, who became wife of diplomat Christopher J. LaFleur.[12][2] He published a book, entitled Secret Talks Between Tokyo and Washington, which was translated into English by Robert D. Eldridge in 2007. The book is about Miyazawa's views concerning the relationships between the US and Japan in terms of the political, economic, and security-related negotiations during the period of 1949 and 1954.[13]
Death
Miyazawa died in Tokyo at the age of 87 on 28 June 2007.[1][10]
References
- ^ a b c d Martin, Douglas (29 June 2007). "Kiichi Miyazawa, Japan Premier in the 90s, Dies at 87". New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h McCurry, Justin (30 June 2007). "Obituary. Kiichi Miyazawa". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ Calder, Kent E. (January 1992). "Japan in 1991: Uncertain Quest for a Global Role". Asian Survey. 32 (1): 32–41. doi:10.2307/2645196. JSTOR 2645196.
- ^ Kiyomiya, Ryū (1992). Miyazawa kiichi zenjinzō. 竜 清宮. 行研出版局. p. 48. ISBN 4-905786-89-4. OCLC 675708973.
- ^ Kapur, Nick (2018). Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0674984424.
- ^ Kapur, Nick (2018). Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-0674984424.
- ^ a b Jameson, Sam (2 February 1992). "Miyazawa's Party Faction Chief Indicted". Los Angeles Times. Tokyo. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ "Matsunaga expects economy to recover under Miyazawa". Kyodo News. Tokyo. 30 July 1998. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "Kiichi Miyazawa: plagued by bribery". BBC. 29 July 1998. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Former Japan PM Kiichi Miyazawa dead". UPI. Tokyo. 28 June 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ Nakamoto, Michiyo (28 June 2007). "Former Japanese PM Miyazawa dies". Financial Times. Tokyo. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ Weisman, Steven R. (28 October 1991). "Man in the News: Kiichi Miyazawa; Self-Assured Leader of Japan". The New York Times.
- ^ Miyazawa, Kiichi (2007). Secret Talks Between Tokyo and Washington. ISBN 9780739120149. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
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