The Yukio Hatoyama Cabinet governed Japan from September 2009 to June 2010, following the landslide victory of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...

in the election on 30 August 2009. The election marked the first time in Japanese post-war history that voters delivered the control of the government to the opposition. The cabinet was also the first since

Hata Cabinet The Hata Cabinet governed Japan for two months from April 28 to June 30, 1994, under the leadership of Tsutomu Hata of the Japan Renewal Party. Political background Hata became Prime Minister following the resignation of Morihiro Hosokawa as hea ...

in 1994 that included no members of the LDP.

Political background

Yukio Hatoyama is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoy ...

and the DPJ came into power after their historic victory in the 2009 general election. The DPJ won more than 300

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

seats in the election and inflicted the worst defeat for a sitting government in modern Japanese history to the LDP. Hatoyama entered office with high approval ratings amid high public expectations to recover the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

-hit economy and reform Japan's stagnant politics. These high expectations contributed to a drop in popularity of the government. The government became more unpopular after it broke a campaign promise of closing down an American air base in Okinawa Prefecture. Hatoyama initially moved to close down the base after the election, but relented to the pressure from the American government. Hatoyama also cited the escalation of tension in the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

following the sinking of South Korean Navy corvette ''Cheonan'' as a factor that contributed to the base being kept. The continuous drop in the government's approval ratings led to Hatoyama's resignation on 2 June 2010. During his short premiership, Hatoyama managed to pass a relatively significant amount of progressive reforms, including the introduction of new social benefits for families, a marked increase in the education budget, the abolition of public high school tuition fees and welfare expansion. Japan also developed a more Asia-focused policy and a warmer relations with China under Hatoyama, culminated with a visit by then-

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in January 2010.

Election of the Prime Minister

Lists of ministers

R = Member of the

C = Member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

Cabinet

References

External links

List of Ministers of the Hatoyama Cabinet - Prime Minister's Office (Kantei)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatoyama Cabinet Cabinet of Japan 2009 establishments in Japan 2010 disestablishments in Japan Cabinets established in 2009 Cabinets disestablished in 2010