Kiichi Miyazawa

In this Japanese name, the family name is Miyazawa.

Kiichi Miyazawa
宮澤 喜一
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Prime Minister of Japan
In office 5 November 1991 – 9 August 1993
Monarch	Akihito
Preceded by	Toshiki Kaifu
Succeeded by	Morihiro Hosokawa
Personal details
Born	(1919-10-08)8 October 1919 Fukuyama, Japan
Died	Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University
Signature	Kiichi Miyazawa's signature

Kiichi Miyazawa (宮澤 喜一, Miyazawa Kiichi, 8 October 1919 – 28 June 2007) was a leading Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician and the 78th Japanese Prime Minister, serving from 5 November 1991 to 9 August 1993.

Early life and education

Miyazawa was born into a wealthy, politically active family in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, on 8 October 1919. His father was a member of the Diet and his grandfather a cabinet minister. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a degree in law.

Career

In 1942, he joined the ministry of finance, avoiding military service during World War II.

In 1953, he was elected to the upper house of the Diet of Japan, where he stayed until moving to the lower house in 1967. Miyazawa held a number of prominent public positions, including minister of international trade and industry (1970–71), minister of foreign affairs (1974–76), director general of the economic planning agency (1977–78), and chief cabinet secretary (1984–86). He became minister of finance under the government of Noboru Takeshita in July 1986. However, Miyazawa had to resign amid the Recruit scandal in 1988.

Prime minister

Miyazawa became Prime Minister on 5 November 1991 backed by his faction. Miyazawa gained brief fame in the United States when President George H. W. Bush vomited in his lap and fainted during a state dinner on 8 January 1992.

His government passed a law allowing Japan to send its forces overseas for peacekeeping missions as well as negotiating a trade agreement with the United States. It also introduced financial reforms to address the growing economic malaise in Japan in the 1990s. Miyazawa resigned in 1993 after losing a vote of no confidence marking an end to 38 years of Liberal Democratic Party government. The reason for the vote was a scandal involving Fumio Abe, a member of Miyazawa's faction. The Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in June 1994.

Subsequent career

File:Rubin Miyazawa 19990426.jpg

Kiichi Miyazawa, left, meets in 1999 with U.S. Secretary of Treasury Robert Rubin. At the time, Miyazawa was serving as minister of finance.

Miyazawa later returned to frontbench politics when he was once again appointed finance minister from 1998 to 2001 in the governments of Keizō Obuchi and Yoshirō Mori. In 1998, Miyazawa replaced Hikaru Matsunaga as finance minister. He served a total 14 terms in both upper and lower houses before retiring from politics in 2003. The reason for his retirement was that then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi set an age limit of 73 for LDP political candidates.

Personal life

Miyazawa married while studying in the United States. They had two children. He published a book, entitled Secret Talks Between Tokyo and Washington, which was translated into English by Robert D. Eldridge in 2007. The book is about Miyazawa's views concerning the relationships between the US and Japan in terms of the political, economic, and security-related negotiations during the period of 1949 and 1954.

Death

Miyazawa died in Tokyo at the age of 87 on 28 June 2007.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Hayato Ikeda	Minister of State, Head of the Economic Planning Agency 1962-1964	Succeeded by Mamoru Takahashi
Preceded by Eisaku Satō	Minister of State, Head of the Economic Planning Agency 1966-1968	Succeeded by Wataro Kanno
Preceded by Masayoshi Ōhira	Minister of International Trade and Industry 1970-1971	Succeeded by Kakuei Tanaka
Preceded by Toshio Kimura	Minister for Foreign Affairs 1974-1976	Succeeded by Zentaro Kosaka
Preceded by Tadashi Kuranari	Minister of State, Head of the Economic Planning Agency 1977-1978	Succeeded by Tokusaburo Kosaka
Preceded by Masayoshi Ito	Chief Cabinet Secretary 1980-1982	Succeeded by Masaharu Gotōda
Preceded by Noboru Takeshita	Minister of Finance 1986-1988	Succeeded by Noboru Takeshita
Preceded by Shin Kanemaru	Deputy Prime Minister of Japan 1987–1988	Succeeded by Michio Watanabe
Preceded by Toshiki Kaifu	Prime Minister of Japan 1991–1993	Succeeded by Morihiro Hosokawa
Preceded by Junichiro Koizumi	Minister of Posts and Telecommunications 1993	Succeeded by Takenori Kanzaki
Preceded by Masami Tanabu	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 1993	Succeeded by Eijirō Hata
Preceded by Hikaru Matsunaga	Minister of Finance 1998-2001	Succeeded by N/A
Preceded by N/A	Minister of Finance 2001	Succeeded by Masajuro Shiokawa
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Helmut Kohl	Chair of the G7 1993	Succeeded by Morihiro Hosokawa