Editing Masayoshi Ōhira

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Japan from 1978 to 1980}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2007}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = 
| honorific-suffix    = 
| name                = Masayoshi Ōhira
| native_name         = {{nobold|大平 正芳}}
| native_name_lang    = ja
| image               = Masayoshi Ohira 19790120.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1978
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch             = [[Hirohito]]
| term_start          = 7 December 1978
| term_end            = 12 June 1980
| predecessor         = [[Takeo Fukuda]]
| successor           = [[Zenkō Suzuki]]
| office1             = [[President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|President of the Liberal Democratic Party]]
| vicepresident1      = [[Eiichi Nishimura]]
| 1blankname1         = {{nowrap|[[Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party|Secretary-General]]}}
| 1namedata1          = [[Kunikichi Saito]]
| term_start1         = 1 December 1978
| term_end1           = 12 June 1980
| predecessor1        = Takeo Fukuda
| successor1          = [[Eiichi Nishimura]] (acting)
{{collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Ministerial offices
|titlestyle           = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office2             = [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Minister of Finance]]
| primeminister2      = [[Kakuei Tanaka]]<br />[[Takeo Miki]]
| term_start2         = 16 July 1974
| term_end2           = 24 December 1976
| predecessor2        = Takeo Fukuda
| successor2          = Hideo Bo
| office3             = [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister3      = Kakuei Tanaka
| term_start3         = 7 July 1972
| term_end3           = 16 July 1974
| predecessor3        = Takeo Fukuda
| successor3          = [[Toshio Kimura]]
| primeminister4      = [[Hayato Ikeda]]
| term_start4         = 18 July 1962
| term_end4           = 18 July 1964
| predecessor4        = [[Zentaro Kosaka]]
| successor4          = Etsusaburo Shiina
| office5             = [[Ministry of International Trade and Industry|Minister of International Trade and Industry]]
| primeminister5      = [[Eisaku Satō]]
| term_start5         = 30 November 1968
| term_end5           = 14 January 1970
| predecessor5        = [[Shiina Etsusaburo|Etsusaburo Shiina]]
| successor5          = [[Kiichi Miyazawa]]
| office6             = [[Chief Cabinet Secretary]]
| primeminister6      = Hayato Ikeda
| term_start6         = 19 July 1960
| term_end6           = 18 July 1962
| predecessor6        = Etsusaburo Shiina
| successor6          = Yasumi Kurogane
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| office7             = Member of the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]
| constituency7       = [[Kagawa 2nd district (1947–1993)|Kagawa 2nd]]
| term_start7         = 1 October 1952
| term_end7           = 12 June 1980
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1910|3|12|df=y}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Man in the News |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/01/archives/strategist-for-japan-masayoshi-ohira.html |access-date=5 January 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=1 September 1972}}</ref>
| birth_place         = [[Kan'onji, Kagawa|Kan'onji]], [[Empire of Japan]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1980|6|12|1910|3|12|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Minato, Tokyo]], Japan
| spouse              = {{marriage|Shigeko Suzuki|1937}}
| children            = 4
| signature           = OhiraM kao.png
| party               = [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic]]<br>(1955–1980)
| otherparty          = [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)|Liberal]] (1952–1955)
| alma_mater          = [[Hitotsubashi University]]
}}
{{nihongo|'''Masayoshi Ōhira'''|大平 正芳|Ōhira Masayoshi|12 March 1910 – 12 June 1980}} was a Japanese politician who served as [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister of Japan]] from 1978 until his death in 1980.

Born in [[Kagawa Prefecture]], Ōhira worked in the [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Ministry of Finance]] from 1936, and served as the private secretary to [[Hayato Ikeda]], finance minister from 1949 to 1952. Ōhira was first elected to the [[National Diet|Diet]] in 1952, and served as foreign minister in Ikeda's cabinet from 1962 to 1964 and as international trade and industry minister from 1968 to 1970 under [[Eisaku Satō]]. He took over Ikeda's faction of the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] and later served as foreign minister from 1972 to 1974 under [[Kakuei Tanaka]] and as finance minister from 1974 to 1976 under [[Takeo Miki]]. He succeeded [[Takeo Fukuda]] as LDP president and prime minister in 1978. After his government was defeated in a no-confidence vote, Ōhira decided to call the [[1980 Japanese general election|1980 election]] rather than resign, but died suddenly of a heart attack. He is the most recent Japanese premier to die in office.{{efn|[[Keizō Obuchi]], who suffered a [[stroke]] while in office, was removed from office on 5 April 2000 after suddenly falling into a [[coma]] a month before his death in May 2000.}}

==Early life==

Masayoshi Ōhira was born on 12 March 1910, in Wada, [[Kagawa Prefecture]] (present-day [[Kan'onji, Kagawa]]), the third son of farmer Toshiyoshi Ōhira and his wife Saku.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Hattori |first1=Ryūji |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/879561049 |title=Ōhira Masayoshi : rinen to gaikō |last2=服部龍二 |date=2014 |isbn=978-4-00-029129-3 |pages=3–5 |publisher=Iwanami Shoten |oclc=879561049}}</ref> His father was a representative of the village council and the irrigation union although he had not received any education.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Fukunaga |first1=Fumio |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/294936502 |title=Ōhira Masayoshi : "sengo hoshu" to wa nani ka |last2=福永文夫 |date=2008 |publisher=Chūō Kōron Shinsha |isbn=978-4-12-101976-9 |pages=15–17 |oclc=294936502}}</ref> He had eight siblings (two elder brothers, three elder sisters, a younger brother and a younger sister) but the eldest of the sisters had died before her first birthday and one of his elder brothers had died at age two.<ref name=":1" /> Ōhira referred to himself as "the son of an impoverished farmer of [[Sanuki Province|Sanuki]]" but in reality his family was middle-class.<ref name=":0" /> But even then, the parents had a hard time supporting their six children, and Ōhira assisted their side job from a young age.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

In 1926, when he was 16 years old, Ōhira contracted [[typhoid fever]] and nearly died. This near death experience contributed to his conversion to [[Christianity]] around that time.

In 1933, when he was 23, Ōhira won two scholarships and was able to belatedly attend university at the Tokyo University of Commerce (present-day [[Hitotsubashi University]]), where he studied economics. In 1936, he entered the [[Ministry of Finance]], where he became a protégé of [[Hayato Ikeda]].

Ōhira worked in the Ministry of Finance throughout [[World War II]]. In the postwar period, when Ikeda became Minister of Finance from 1949 to 1952, Ōhira served as his private secretary.

==Early political career==
In 1952, at Ikeda's urging, Ōhira ran for and won the first of 10 terms in the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] of the [[National Diet|Japanese National Diet]], first representing the [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)|Liberal Party]], and later its successor party the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP).

In 1957, as Ikeda prepared a push to try to become prime minister, Ōhira became a founding member of Ikeda's "[[Kōchikai]]" think tank, and was widely viewed as Ikeda's "right-hand man".<ref name="Kapur 48">{{Cite book|last=Kapur|first=Nick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Re5hDwAAQBAJ|title=Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2018|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=48|isbn=9780674988484}}</ref> He helped Ikeda write speeches and election manifestos.<ref name="Kapur 48"/>

Ikeda became prime minister in 1960, when [[Nobusuke Kishi]] resigned following the disastrous [[Anpo Protests|1960 Anpo Protests]]. As a trained economist and trusted member of Ikeda's "brain trust", Ōhira helped design and implement Ikeda's famed [[Income Doubling Plan]], which helped turn the attention of the Japanese people away from contentious political struggles to a nationwide drive for economic growth.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kapur|first=Nick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Re5hDwAAQBAJ|title=Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2018|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=76, 100–101|isbn=9780674988484}}</ref>

From 1962–1964, Ōhira served as Ikeda's Foreign Minister. In this role, he conducted the delicate negotiations which paved the way for Japan's normalization of relations with South Korea in 1965. When Ikeda died in 1964, Ōhira inherited control of his faction.

==LDP power broker and prime minister==

[[File:Keith Holyoake and Masayoshi Ohira cropped 2 Keith Holyoake and Masayoshi Ohira 197210.jpg|thumb|left|200px|with [[Keith Holyoake]] (October 1972)]]
[[File:Masayoshi Ohira at Andrews AFB 1 Jan 1980 cropped 1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Masayoshi Ōhira at [[Andrews Air Force Base]] in 1980.]]
At the apex of his political life, Ōhira came to represent what were known as the "mainstream factions" within the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP), which put him at odds with Prime Minister [[Takeo Fukuda]], who led what were known as the "anti-mainstream" factions.<ref>Nihon Kōgyō Shinbunsha. (1979). [https://books.google.com/books?id=F-yOAAAAIAAJ&q=Masayoshi+Ohira ''Business Japan''.] Vol. 24, Nos. 10–12, p. 47.</ref> From 1968 to 1970, Ōhira served as Minister of International Trade and Industry under Ikeda's successor [[Eisaku Satō]]. In 1972, Ōhira unsuccessfully competed for the party leadership before throwing his support to ultimate winner [[Kakuei Tanaka]]. Ōhira was then rewarded for his support with a post as Tanaka's first Foreign Minister, which he held until mid-July 1974.<ref name="daytona">{{cite news|title=Tanaka reshuffles Japanese cabinet|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1873&dat=19740717&id=74seAAAAIBAJ&pg=791,289067|access-date=6 January 2013|newspaper=Daytona Beach Morning|date=17 July 1974|agency=AP|location=Tokyo}}</ref> In a cabinet reshuffle in July 1974, he was replaced by [[Toshio Kimura]] as Foreign Minister but then immediately appointed Finance Minister, replacing [[Takeo Fukuda]].<ref name="daytona" />

Ōhira was elected to the presidency of the LDP in late 1978. On 7 December 1978, he was appointed 68th Prime Minister, successfully pushing longtime rival [[Takeo Fukuda]] from his position.<ref>Brown, James Robert. (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=YALptE82j04C&dq=Masayoshi+Ohira&pg=PA199 ''The ministry of finance'', p. 199.]</ref>

Ōhira was the sixth [[Christianity|Christian]] to hold this office after [[Hara Takashi]], [[Takahashi Korekiyo]], [[Ichirō Hatoyama]], [[Tetsu Katayama]], and [[Shigeru Yoshida]].

In the general election of 1979, the LDP narrowly failed to win an outright majority, but enough independent members of the [[Diet of Japan|Diet]] joined the party to enable Ōhira to remain in office, and he was duly reappointed on 9 November of that year. On 16 May 1980, a [[vote of no confidence]] was held in the Diet.

Ōhira expected the motion to fail, and was visibly shaken when it passed 243–187.{{Cn|date=January 2023}} 69 members of his own LDP, including Fukuda, abstained. Given the choice of resigning or calling new elections, Ōhira chose the latter and began campaigning for LDP candidates.
==Death==

Ōhira's health started to deteriorate in his 60s. During the 1980 election campaign, he was hospitalized for exhaustion on 31 May 1980 and died of a massive heart attack on 12 June, ten days before the general elections.

Chief Cabinet Secretary [[Masayoshi Ito]] acted in Ōhira's place as deputy after his death. [[Yoshio Sakurauchi]], the [[Secretary General]] of LDP, led the LDP to its greatest victory in fifteen years, capitalizing on the "sympathy vote" generated by Ōhira's death. [[Zenkō Suzuki]] became Ōhira's successor as prime minister following the election.

==Personal life==
===Religion===
Ōhira converted to [[Christianity]] during his time at the Takamatsu Higher School of Commerce (now the [[Kagawa University|Takamatsu College of Economics]]), though without becoming a member of any formal Christian denomination.<ref>{{cite book|last=Choy|first=Lee Khoon|title=Japan — Between Myth and Reality|date=1995|publisher=[[World Scientific|World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.]]|location=Singapore|isbn=981-02-1865-6|page=109|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77ZqNbU_Y74C|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rothacher|first=Albrecht|title=The Japanese Power Elite|date=1993|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan Press Ltd.]]|isbn=978-1-349-22995-6|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQC_DAAAQBAJ|access-date=15 July 2019|quote=Ohira as a University student later joined the 'no-church movement' and has treated his religious convictions as a private matter ever since.}}</ref> However, others have stated that he was a member of the [[Anglican Church in Japan]] during the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ikehara|first=Mariko|editor-last=Doak|editor-first=Kevin M.|title=Xavier's Legacies: Catholicism in Modern Japanese Culture|date=2011|publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press|UBC Press]]|location=[[Vancouver]], Canada|isbn=978-0-7748-2022-6|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Rr6CRwj9aAC|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref>

==Honours==
*[[Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum]] (12 June 1980; posthumous)<ref>''From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia''</ref>
*[[Golden Pheasant Award]] of the [[Scout Association of Japan]] (1980)<ref name="reinanzaka">{{Cite web |date=2014-05-23|script-title=ja:䝪䞊䜲䝇䜹䜴䝖日本連盟 きじ章受章者 |trans-title=Recipient of the Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan |url=http://reinanzaka-sc.o.oo7.jp/kiroku/documents/20140523-3-kiji-list.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811030258/http://reinanzaka-sc.o.oo7.jp/kiroku/documents/20140523-3-kiji-list.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-11 |website=Reinanzaka Scout Club| language=ja}}</ref>
*In [[Mexico City, Mexico]] a Japanese garden in the {{Lang|es|Country Club Churubusco|italic=no}} neighborhood, near the [[:es:Centro_Nacional_de_las_Artes_(México)|CENART]] campus, is named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pública |first=Agencia Digital de Innovación |title=Parque Masayoshi Ohira, Country Club Churubusco, Coyoacán |url=https://mexicocity.cdmx.gob.mx/venues/masayoshi-ohira-park/?lang=es |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Mexico City |language=es-MX}}</ref>

===Foreign honours===
*{{flagu|Belgium}}: [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]] (20 January 1964)
*{{flagu|Malaya}}: Honorary Grand Commander of the [[Order of the Defender of the Realm#Grand Commander|Order of the Defender of the Realm]] (S.M.N.) (1964)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp/|title=Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat}}</ref>
*{{flagu|Brazil}}: [[Order of the Southern Cross]] (16 September 1976)

==See also==
* [[Christianity in Japan]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Brown, James Robert. (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=YALptE82j04C ''The ministry of finance: bureaucratic practices and the transformation of the Japanese economy.''] Westport, Connecticut: [[Greenwood Publishing]]. {{ISBN|978-1-56720-230-4}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39033542 OCLC 39033542]
*Satō, Seizaburō Ken'ichi Kōyama and Shunpei Kumon. (1990). [''Postwar Politician: The Life of Former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira.''] Tokyo: [[Kodansha]]. {{ISBN|978-4-7700-1499-3}}

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{{Prime Ministers of Japan}}
{{Japanese finance ministers}}
{{Japanese foreign ministers}}
{{Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm}}
{{Liberal Democratic Party of Japan}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohira, Masayoshi}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Ministers for foreign affairs of Japan]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Japan]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Hitotsubashi University alumni]]
[[Category:Japanese Christians]]
[[Category:Japanese Anglicans]]
[[Category:Japanese Protestants]]
[[Category:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)]]
[[Category:Liberal Democratic Party prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan)]]
[[Category:Converts to Christianity]]
[[Category:People from Kan'onji, Kagawa]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kagawa Prefecture]]