Sōsuke Uno
Sōsuke Uno | |
---|---|
宇野 宗佑 | |
Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office 3 June 1989 – 10 August 1989 | |
Monarch | Akihito |
Preceded by | Noboru Takeshita |
Succeeded by | Toshiki Kaifu |
Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 8 November 1987 – 3 June 1989 | |
Prime Minister | Noboru Takeshita |
Preceded by | Tadashi Kuranari |
Succeeded by | Hiroshi Mitsuzuka |
Minister of International Trade and Industry | |
In office 10 June 1983 – 27 November 1983 | |
Prime Minister | Yasuhiro Nakasone |
Preceded by | Sadanori Yamanaka |
Succeeded by | Hikosaburo Okonogi |
Director General of the Administrative Management Agency | |
In office 9 November 1979 – 17 July 1980 | |
Prime Minister | Masayoshi Ōhira |
Preceded by | Motohiko Kanai |
Succeeded by | Yasuhiro Nakasone |
Director General of the Science and Technology Agency | |
In office 24 December 1976 – 28 November 1977 | |
Prime Minister | Takeo Fukuda |
Preceded by | Masao Maeda |
Succeeded by | Tasaburo Kumagai |
Director General of the Japan Defense Agency | |
In office 11 November 1974 – 9 December 1974 | |
Prime Minister | Kakuei Tanaka |
Preceded by | Sadanori Yamanaka |
Succeeded by | Michita Sakata |
Member of the House of Representatives | |
In office 20 November 1960 – 20 October 1996 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Second World War
| 27 August 1922
Sōsuke Uno (宇野 宗佑, Uno Sōsuke, 27 August 1922 – 19 May 1998) was a Japanese politician who was briefly Prime Minister of Japan in 1989, the first Prime Minister who came from Shiga Prefecture. [1] A scandal exposed by the geisha Mitsuko Nakanishi contributed to his premature resignation from office after just sixty-eight days.
Early life and education
Uno was born in Moriyama, Shiga. His family owned a sake brewery called Arachō, and had served as town officials (Japanese: Toshiyori). The family had previously ran a hotel and a general store in his birth home.[2]
In 1943, he graduated from Hikone Commercial College (later, Shiga University) where he led Hikone Commercial College to the national champion of Kendo among the commercial universities and colleges in Japan and attended the Kobe College of Commerce but had to leave the University two months later after the enrollment because he was called into the Imperial Japanese Army as an officer during World War II.[1][3] After the war, he was sent to Siberia as a prisoner.[1] He never came back to Kobe College of Commerce again.[1]
As well as a politician, Uno was an accomplished writer, who wrote a book considered classic in Japan about his experiences as a prisoner of war in Siberia.
Political career
In 1960, he entered politics, winning election to the
In 1974, he served briefly as
Geisha affair
Uno encountered public scandal in 1989, when accused by the Geisha entertainer Mitsuko Nakanishi[5][6] of being "immoral" and stingy in his financial support during their four-month affair in 1986. Nakanishi would claim in following newspaper interviews that Uno had treated older geisha with arrogance and contempt, had not paid the appropriate fee of ¥300,000 per month (roughly US$2,100 at the time) for her company of four months, and had not provided a traditional parting gift (a further monetary fee) as had been custom in geisha etiquette.
A
To avoid further scandal, Sōsuke Uno resigned as prime minister on 10 August 1989 after just 68 days in office, but continued to serve his country in various government posts until he retired fully in 1996. On 29 April 1994, he was awarded with the highest possible honour for a non-head-of-state, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers.[8]
Death
At 72 years of age, Uno then enjoyed a peaceful retirement in
Honours
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers - (29 April 1994)
References
- ^ a b c d 【滋賀・近江の先人第120回】滋賀県初の第75代内閣総理大臣・宇野宗佑(守山市)(in Japanese)
- ^ "守山宿・町家「うの家(け)」". Unoke. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
- ^ 政治家の履歴書・総理編 ~宇野宗佑~(in Japanese)
- JSTOR 2644511.
- ^ Carter, Paul (23 October 2011). "Obituary: Sosuke Uno". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ Weisman, Steve R. (10 June 1989). "Ex-Geisha Accuses Uno Of a Dangerous Liaison". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ Blustein, Paul (19 July 1989). "THE FEMINIST GEISHA". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Uno Sōsuke | prime minister of Japan".
- ^ "The Secret Life of Geisha (TV Series 1999– )". IMDb.
Further reading
- West, Mark D. (2006). Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan and the United States. Chicago University Press. ISBN 978-0-226-89408-9.