Sunao Sonoda
Sunao Sonoda | |
---|---|
園田 直 | |
Masayoshi Ohira | |
Preceded by | Iichirō Hatoyama |
Succeeded by | Saburo Okita |
Chief Cabinet Secretary | |
In office 24 December 1976 – 28 November 1977 | |
Prime Minister | Takeo Fukuda |
Preceded by | Ichitaro Ide |
Succeeded by | Shintaro Abe |
Minister of Health and Welfare | |
In office 25 November 1967 – 30 November 1968 | |
Prime Minister | Eisaku Satō |
Preceded by | Hideo Bō |
Succeeded by | Noboru Saitō |
Personal details | |
Born | 11 December 1913 Second World War |
Sunao Sonoda (園田 直, Sonoda Sunao, 11 December 1913 – 2 April 1984) was Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who served as minister for foreign affairs and minister of health and welfare. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan when he was in office.[1] He was one of the significant figures in normalizing the relations between Japan and China.[2]
Early life
Sonoda was born in Kumamoto Prefecture on 11 December 1913.[3]
Career
Sonoda joined the Japanese army in 1938, and served both in China and in the Pacific area during World War II.[3] He was commander of a kamikaze squad during the war.[1] In 1947, Sonoda was elected to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet,[3] representing the Kumamoto Prefecture.[4] He was previously a member of the Democratic Party. Then he became a member of the LDP when the Democratic Party joined the Liberals.[3]
In the 1950s, he was the special envoy of the LDP.
After rejoining the LDP, Sonoda also served as vice speaker of the lower house for two terms:[6] from 20 December 1965 to 27 December 1966 and from 15 February 1967 to 25 November 1967.[7] He served as minister of health and welfare from 1967 to 1968,[2] which he held again from 1980 to 1981.[3]
In addition, Sonoda was chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet led by Takeo Fukuda from 24 December 1976 to 28 November 1977.[8][9]
Within the LDP Sonoda was against the Nakasone faction and formed his own.[10] He and the members of his faction joined the faction headed by Fukuda in 1972.[10][11] However, he later left it and joined the faction headed by Masayoshi Ōhira.[12]
Minister of foreign affairs
Sonoda served as minister of foreign affairs three times: in the cabinet of Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda from November 1977 to December 1978, in the cabinet of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira from December 1978 to November 1979, and in the cabinet of Prime Minister
During his first term in the ministry of foreign affairs, Japan signed the
On 17 May 1981, Sonoda was appointed by Prime Minister and his close friend Zenko Suzuki as foreign minister for the last time due to unexpected resignation of the former Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ito.[16][17] Sonoda called for adopting the omnidirectional diplomacy and unlike his two predecessors, issued entry visas to Soviet economic delegations.[17] He was replaced by Yoshio Sakurauchi in the post 30 November 1981.[18] The reason for Sonoda's removal from his post was his blunt remarks concerning U.S. policies in June 1981 as well as his other statements detrimental to Japan's relations with South Korea.[19]
Personal life
Sunao Sonoda married twice. His son from the first marriage,
Death
Sonoda died of kidney failure at the hospital of Keio University in Tokyo on 2 April 1984.[13]
Honours
National honour
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun(2 April 1984; posthumous)
Foreign honour
- Bolivia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Condor of the Andes (6 July 1978)
- Chile : Grand Cross of the Order of the Bernardo O'Higgins (21 August 1979)
References
- ^ Montreal Gazette. 3 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Sonoda, Sunao". Rulers. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ^ a b c Sam Jameson (4 July 1986). "Family Connections Growing in Importance in Japanese Politics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ Eugene Kramer (4 September 1956). "Japanese diplomat paced famed deck 11 years ago". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Tokyo. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ Kanako Tahara (25 May 2002). "Secret funds have oiled wheels for decades". The Japan Times. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ "The National Diet of Japan" (PDF). Secretariat of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-873410-07-3.
- ISBN 978-0-520-04557-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-05854-5.
- ^ John Slee (8 December 1978). "New Japanese PM takes over". The Sydney Morning Herald. Tokyo. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
- ^ JSTOR 2643652.
- ^ a b "Ex-Japanese Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 2 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ "Sunao Sonoda, foreign minister". Evening Independent. Tokyo. Associated Press. 2 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-85065-141-3.
- ^ Henry Scott Stokes (17 May 1981). "Japan replaces foreign minister in rift over U.S." The New York Times. p. 1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7656-0585-6.
- ^ "Japan's cabinet shuffled". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Tokyo. United Press International. 30 November 1981. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ Geoffrey Murray (1 December 1981). "Japanese Cabinet shaken up to tackle big problems". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ a b Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa (18 August 2006). "Pioneer for women seeks home for peace dolls". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ Sayuri Daimon (20 December 2007). "A long life of peace that sprung from war". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
External links
- Media related to Sunao Sonoda at Wikimedia Commons