Toshiki Kaifu

Template:Western name orderTemplate:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Template:Nihongo was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991.

Born in Nagoya, Kaifu graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the Diet in 1960 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as education minister from 1976 to 1977 under Takeo Fukuda, and from 1985 to 1986 under Yasuhiro Nakasone. In 1989, Kaifu became prime minister after the resignations of the last two premiers, Noboru Takeshita and Sosuke Uno, amid various scandals; he was chosen in part because of his clean image. During his tenure, Kaifu worked to improve relations with China and made large financial contributions to the coalition in the Persian Gulf War. After his attempts at political reform were unsuccessful, Kaifu resigned as prime minister in 1991 and was replaced by Kiichi Miyazawa.

Early life and education

Kaifu was born on 2 January 1931, in Nagoya City, the eldest of six brothers. His family's business Nakamura Photo Studio was established by his grandfather in the Meiji era, and was situated next to the Matsuzakaya flagship department store.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Kaifu took the exam to the Aichi Prefectural Asahigaoka Senior High School, and while of the eleven students who took the test from the same school, nine were accepted and two, including Kaifu, were not. As part of the student labor mobilization during the war, he was placed in a Mitsui Heavy Industry factory where he assembled airplane engine parts day and night. In 1945, he was accepted in the Youth Airman Academy of the Imperial Japanese Army, but the war ended before his planned enrolment in October.<ref name=":0" /> He was then educated at Chuo University and Waseda University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political career

A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kaifu ran successfully for the 1960 Japanese general election and took office as the youngest member of the National Diet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He served for sixteen terms, totaling 48 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kaifu was education minister before rising to lead the party after the resignations of Takeshita Noboru and Sōsuke Uno.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Facing Yoshiro Hayashi and Shintaro Ishihara,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kaifu was elected on the platform of clean leadership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He became the 76th Prime Minister of Japan in August 1989.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Premiership (1989–1991)

File:17th G7 summit member 19910715.jpg

Kaifu (5th from left) with leaders of the G7 at the 17th G7 summit in London, 15 July 1991

On 10 August 1991, Kaifu became the first leader of a major country to make an official visit to China and break China's diplomatic isolation after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kaifu ended Japan's participation in economic sanctions against China and offered $949.9 million in loans and an additional $1.5 million in emergency aid following flood damage in southern China in June and July.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1991 he sent the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf in the wake of the Gulf War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Throughout his two Cabinets, Kaifu's faction was too small to push through the reforms he sought, and the continuing repercussions of the Sagawa Express scandal caused problems. He resigned in November 1991 and was replaced by Kiichi Miyazawa.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1994, he left the LDP to become head of the newly-founded New Frontier Party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was then nominated by Ichirō Ozawa and Tsutomu Hata as prime minister in June 1994 against the LDP-Socialist coalition candidate Tomiichi Murayama but lost in the Diet vote. He supported Ozawa's party until he returned to LDP in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He was defeated in the election of 2009 by DPJ candidate Mitsunori Okamoto,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which witnessed the end of almost uninterrupted LDP dominance since 1955.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> At the time of his defeat, he was the longest-serving member of the lower house of the Diet, and he was also the first former prime minister to be defeated at a re-election since 1963.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

On 17 November 1957, Kaifu married Sachiyo Yanagihara, a female assistant to Member of the House of Representatives.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The couple had a son, Template:Ill, and a daughter, Mutsumi.

Death

Kaifu died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital on 9 January 2022, at the age of 91. The announcement of his death to the media was delayed until 14 January.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru (1989)<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>

Election history

Election	Age	District	Political party	Number of votes	election results
1960 Japanese general election	29	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	49,767	winning
1963 Japanese general election	32	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	57,586	winning
1967 Japanese general election	36	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	80,874	winning
1969 Japanese general election	38	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	82,695	winning
1972 Japanese general election	41	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	87,733	winning
1976 Japanese general election	45	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	151,151	winning
1979 Japanese general election	48	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	119,049	winning
1980 Japanese general election	49	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	145,322	winning
1983 Japanese general election	52	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	123,415	winning
1986 Japanese general election	55	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	133,829	winning
1990 Japanese general election	59	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	195,713	winning
1993 Japanese general election	62	Aichi 3rd district	LDP	194,863	winning
1996 Japanese general election	65	Aichi 9th district	NFP	111,578	winning
2000 Japanese general election	69	Aichi 9th district	NCP	122,175	winning
2003 Japanese general election	72	Aichi 9th district	NCP	104,075	winning
2005 Japanese general election	74	Aichi 9th district	LDP	130,771	winning
2009 Japanese general election	78	Aichi 9th district	LDP	100,549	lost
<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• KAIFU, Toshiki International Who's Who. Retrieved 3 September 2006.
• Template:C-SPAN

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