Morihiro Hosokawa
Morihiro Hosokawa | |
---|---|
細川 護熙 | |
Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office 9 August 1993 – 28 April 1994 | |
Monarch | Akihito |
Preceded by | Kiichi Miyazawa |
Succeeded by | Tsutomu Hata |
Leader of the New Party | |
In office 22 May 1992 – 9 December 1994 | |
Preceded by | Party Established |
Succeeded by | Party Abolished |
Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture | |
In office 11 February 1983 – 10 February 1991 | |
Preceded by | Issei Sawada |
Succeeded by | Joji Fukushima |
Member of the House of Councillors | |
In office 4 July 1971 – 10 July 1977 | |
Constituency | National District |
In office 10 July 1977 – 11 February 1983 | |
Preceded by | Moriyoshi Morinaka |
Succeeded by | Masaru Urata |
Constituency | Kumamoto At-large District |
In office 26 July 1992 – 18 July 1993 | |
Constituency | National Block |
Member of the House of Representatives for Kumamoto 1st District[a] | |
In office 18 July 1993 – 7 May 1998 | |
Preceded by | Shōichi Tanaka |
Succeeded by | Eiichi Iwashita |
Personal details | |
Born | Democratic Party (1998–2016) | 14 January 1938
Other political affiliations | LDP (until 1992) JNP (1992–1994) NFP (1994–1997) From Five (1997–1998) GGP (1998) |
Spouse |
Kayoko Ueda (m. 1971) |
Children | 3 (including Morimitsu) |
Alma mater | Sophia University |
Signature | |
Morihiro Hosokawa (細川 護煕, Hosokawa Morihiro, born 14 January 1938) is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994, leading a coalition government which was the first non-Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government of Japan since 1955. After successfully implementing various election and trade reforms, he stepped down from the role of Prime Minister in early 1994.[1] He later ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for Governor of Tokyo in the February 2014 gubernatorial election as an independent supported by the Democratic Party of Japan.[2] He has been, since 2005, the head of the Kumamoto-Hosokawa clan, one of the former noble families of Japan.
Early life
Morihiro Hosokawa was born in Tokyo as the eldest grandson of
Hosokawa received his
After serving two terms in the
Prime minister
In the July 1993 general election, in a change very few had foreseen even a year earlier, the LDP lost its majority in the Diet for the first time in thirty-eight years, winning only 223 out of 511 seats in the House of Representatives. The previous LDP government of Kiichi Miyazawa was replaced by an eight-party coalition government which promised a series of social, political, and economic reforms. Excluding the JCP, the coalition was backed by all of the former opposition parties, which included the newly formed JNP, the Japan Socialist Party, the Japan Renewal Party (Shinseito), Komeito, the Democratic Socialist Party, the Socialist Democratic Federation, the RENGO and the New Party Sakigake, who together controlled 243 seats in the House of Representatives. Hosokawa, one of the major voices in forming the coalition, was chosen as the new Prime Minister.
Walter Mondale, then the US ambassador to Japan, characterized Hosokawa as having a "Kennedy-esque" ability to focus on ideals; nonetheless, Hosokawa's coalition had no common ideas other than their opposition to the LDP, which undermined Hosokawa throughout his term as prime minister. He was also at odds with Japan's bureaucracy, which he sought to reform after decades of bureaucratic entrenchment under the LDP.[7]
Foreign policy
Hosokawa made several unprecedented moves toward atonement with Japan's Asian neighbors during his term as prime minister. In his first news conference in office, he made an unprecedented statement acknowledging that Japan waged a war of aggression in World War II.
Hosokawa later said: "You can obviously define 'aggression' in any number of ways, depending on context. But if you have any common sense, you just cannot say in good conscience that Japan was not the aggressor when Japan did in fact cause tremendous anguish and loss of life in China, Korea and Southeast Asian nations in order to protect its own interests. I knew my opinion was going to invite heated controversy."[8]
On 6 November 1993, he visited
In May 1994, right-wing extremist Masakatsu Nozoe fired a gunshot into the ceiling of a Tokyo hotel where Hosokawa was giving a speech, in apparent protest at Hosokawa's statements.[9]
Hosokawa's acts toward China and Korea inspired Russian president
Domestic policy
The Hosokawa government pushed for changes to Japanese election laws intended to fight political corruption, including elimination of corporate political donations to individual candidates and a redrawing of the electoral system, both intended to prevent the LDP from continuing to employ its past electoral practices. After an extended legislative fight, the LDP was able to force several concessions to maintain their advantage, retaining corporate political donations with a cap, while pushing back on some more radical changes to the electoral map and ensuring that most candidates would keep essentially the same seats in the next election.[10] These compromises had a negative impact on the public approval of the Hosokawa coalition.[11]
A law of December 1993 amending the Basic Law on measures for physically and mentally disabled persons of 1970 aimed to promote the independence of disabled people and their participation in activities in any field such as culture, the economy, and community affairs. Amendments made to regulations under the Industrial Safety and Health Law of 1972 on 30 March 1994 included accidents involving the collapsing of cranes and breaking of wires that needed to be reported to the authorities.[12] On 1 April 1994, a 40-hour workweek was introduced.[13]
Hosokawa also enacted cuts in income and resident taxes, intended to help Japan out of the recession that had followed the
Resignation
Hosokawa was forced to resign in April 1994 after it came to light that he had accepted a 100-million-yen loan from a trucking company previously accused of bribery and links to organized crime. Amid allegations of bribery, Hosokawa argued that the money was a loan and produced a receipt to show that he had paid it back; LDP members passed around a copy remarking that it looked like a fake.[citation needed] Although Hosokawa still had high public approval at the time, opinion was growing that he could not meet the expectations set at the start of his term.[17]
Hosokawa's resignation was abrupt and led to a number of frenzied meetings aimed at saving the coalition, which was torn between the rival camps of
Cabinet
The
Chief Cabinet Secretary | Masayoshi Takemura (Sakigake) |
---|---|
Foreign Affairs | Tsutomu Hata (Shinseito) |
Justice | Akira Mikazuki (non-affiliated) |
Finance | Hirohisa Fujii (Shinseito) |
Education | Yoko Akamatsu (non-affiliated) |
Health and Welfare | Keigo Ouchi (Democratic Socialist) |
Labor | Chikara Sakaguchi (Komeito) |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | Eijiro Hata (Shinseito) |
International Trade and Industry | Hiroshi Kumagai (Shinseito) |
Transport | Shigeru Ito (Socialist) |
Construction | Kozo Igarashi (Socialist) |
Home Affairs and National Public Safety Commission | Kanju Sato (Socialist) |
Posts and Telecommunications | Takenori Kanzaki (Komeito) |
Management and Coordination Agency | Koshiro Ishida (Komeito)
|
Japan Defense Agency | Hiroyoshi Nakanishi (Shinseito) until 1 December 1993 Kazuo Aichi (Shinseito) after 2 December 1993 |
Hokkaido and Okinawa Development, National Land Agency
|
Kosuke Uehara (Socialist) |
Economic Planning Agency | Manae Kubota (Socialist) |
Environment | Wakako Hironaka (Komeito) |
Council for Science and Technology Policy | Satsuki Eda (Democratic Socialist) |
Minister of State | Sadao Yamahana (Socialist) |
Later political life
Hosokawa joined the
After the LDP returned to power in 1994, Hosokawa teamed up with
Hosokawa retired from politics in 1998 at the age of 60. In his retirement, he took up
Tokyo gubernatorial bid
In 2014, at the age of 75, Hosokawa was approached by the DPJ to run in the
Hosokawa announced his candidacy alongside Koizumi on January 14.
During his campaign, Hosokawa criticized the Abe government's nuclear policy, stating: "Tokyo is shoving nuclear power plants and nuclear waste to other regions, while enjoying the convenience (of electricity) as a big consumer." He also criticized Abe's foreign policy in the run-up to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, questioning "whether pugnacious diplomacy will help the festival of peace to be held smoothly."[28]
Hosokawa failed to gain momentum and trailed behind Masuzoe in the polls through the final week of the campaign, with only a 30–40% support rating within the DPJ and PLP and particularly low support among women.[29] Masuzoe was declared the winner in exit polls shortly after voting ended on February 9, but Hosokawa vowed to continue anti-nuclear advocacy.[30]
Personal life
Hosokawa lives in
Notes
- ^ Between 1947 and 1996, Hosakawa's constituency was a multi-member district elected through SNTV. After the 1994 Japanese electoral reform, mandating the abolition of all multi-member House of Representative district, Hosakawa was re-elected to the synonymous Kumamoto 1st District, which was a single-member constituency elected through FPTP, in 1996 general election. The two constituencies are fundamentally different from each other, only with their identical name.
References
- ^ "JAPAN'S HOSOKAWA TO RESIGN". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
- ^ Yoshida, Reiji (10 January 2014). "Any Hosokawa presence in Tokyo race bad for Abe". The Japan Times. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ a b c Goozner, Merrill (30 July 1993). "A Party Rebel Will Assume Reins In Japan". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Hosokawa genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "NIRC".
- ^ "Hosokawa Morihiro | prime minister of Japan". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ a b Sanger, David (10 April 1994). "Profile in Political Descent: Japan's Once-Rising Star". New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ a b c Wakamiya, Yoshibumi (4 September 2010). "Morihiro Hosokawa: Genuine nationalism includes tolerance, respect". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Gunman Fires At Japanese Leader". Baltimore Sun. 31 May 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Goozner, Merrill (30 January 1994). "Japanese Leader Aims For Reforms Hosokawa Compromise May Delay Agenda". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Braude, Jonathan (31 January 1994). "Japan starts to change". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Results list of Browse by country - NATLEX".
- ^ Japanese employment and labor law by Kazuo Sugeno
- ^ "Fragile position: Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa". Chicago Tribune. 3 February 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Schlesinger, Jacob (17 June 2010). "Consumption Tax Hikes: A Short, Unhappy History". Wall Street Journal Japan Real Time. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Nishiyama, George (4 July 2012). "Flashback: Ozawa's Tax-Hike Twist". Wall Street Journal Japan Real Time. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Barr, Cameron (8 April 1994). "Fending Off Accusations of Impropriety, Japan Premier Faces Pressure to Resign". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Japan's Ruling Coalition In Peril As Conservatives Boycott Meeting". Los Angeles Times. 12 April 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ McCarthy, Terry (10 August 1993). "Hosokawa plays safe with cabinet: Japanese PM chooses conservative team committed to continuity in economic and foreign policy". The Independent. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "「細川・小泉」あるか2度目の連携". 日本経済新聞. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Master Potter Shiro Tsujimura teaches Prime Minister". 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Hosokawa Morihiro - Former Japanese Prime Minister Turns to Ceramics". Archived from the original on 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2014-09-30.
- ^ a b Pilling, David (13 May 2011). "Pottery with the FT: Morihiro Hosokawa". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "都知事選、「原発争点」に自民警戒 小泉氏カギに 民主は「細川氏が最有力候補」". 日本経済新聞. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "都知事選リードの舛添氏 急失速を招きかねない3つの"死角"". ZAKZAK. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
事実上、「安倍vs小泉」の代理戦争といわれた都知事選だが、舛添氏を支援する自民党幹部は「何とか勝てそうだ」と顔をほころばせた。
- ^ "細川元首相が出馬表明「原発問題に危機感」 会談後、小泉氏「支援する」". MSN Sankei News. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "細川氏出馬、旧政権メンバーが再結集 都知事選". 日本経済新聞. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ Takenaka, Kiyoshi (29 January 2014). "Hosokawa questions Abe's energy policy, diplomacy". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- ^ "Masuzoe ahead of pack in Tokyo gubernatorial race: Mainichi poll". Mainichi Shimbun. 3 February 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- ^ "細川氏「脱原発、争点にならなかった」 都知事選". Asahi Shimbun. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ "Message from Partner: Kayoko HOSOKAWA, Director of Special Olympics Japan". Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ISBN 9780837911106.
External links
- Policy speech to the 127th Session of the National Diet 23 August 1993
- Policy speech to the 128th Session of the National Diet 21 September 1993
- Policy speech to the 129th Session of the National Diet 4 March 1994
- Morihiro Hosokawa at IMDb
- Appearances on C-SPAN