was a Japanese politician who served as
Prime Minister of Japan
The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...
from 1974 until 1976.
Early life and family
![Miki-takeo-seika](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Miki-takeo-seika.JPG)
Takeo Miki was born on 17 March 1907, in Gosho,
Tokushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...
(present-day
Awa, Tokushima
270px, Awa-no-dochu earthen pillars Natural Monument
270px, Kumadani-ji Sanmon
270px, Yoshino River
is a city located in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,631 in 15432 households and a population dens ...
), the only child of farmer-merchant Hisayoshi Miki and his wife Takano. Aside from farming, his father traded
fertilizers
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
,
sake
Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
, rice and general goods, though he was not a wealthy farmer (''
gōnō
''Gōnō'' (豪農) were the upper-class peasantry in the late Edo period and early Meiji era Japan. They held considerable wealth and power in local communities, and aside from being major landowners, some owned small rural industries or served as ...
'') or from a family of pedigree (''kyūke''). Hisayoshi was born in Kakihara, near Gosho, to farmer Rokusaburō Ino'o, and after briefly working in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, he returned and began working for the Shibata family, the largest landowner in Gosho. He met Takano Miki, the daughter of farmer Tokitarō Miki, when the two were working for the Shibata family. Hisayoshi took Takano's surname after marriage, and the newlywed were given a house by the Shibata family.
When Miki was born, Hisayoshi was 33 and Takano was 38 years old, and Miki was raised with much love as he was the only child. His mother was particularly careful about his healthcare.
While studying at
Meiji University
, abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...
's Faculty of
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, Miki was able to visit the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where he saw firsthand both
Anglo-American
Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
liberal society as well as that society's aversion towards
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
states such as
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
,
Fascist Italy, and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He attended the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and was awarded an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
in law from the institution in 1966.
[Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry, Takeo Miki's visit to Los Angeles, California, 29–30 September 1966 and 1 and 3 October 1966](_blank)
Japanese American National Museum, Accessed 10 February 2009.
Pre-LDP political career
![Takeo Miki 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Takeo_Miki_01.jpg)
During 1937 Miki was elected to the
Diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
; he remained there for the rest of his life, winning re-election no fewer than 19 times over 51 years. In the
1942 general election he openly voiced opposition to the military government under
Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...
and still managed to win a seat; his efforts at this time were assisted by
Kan Abe
was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1946. He was the father of former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe and the grandfather of former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.
Life
Abe was born on 29 April 1894 ...
, the grandfather of Prime Minister
Shinzō Abe
Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍 晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...
.
In the earlier post-war period, Miki led the centrist
National Cooperative Party
The was a centrist political party in Japan.
History
The party was established on 8 March 1947 as a merger of the Cooperative Democratic Party and the National Party following seven months of talks.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of ...
in the
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...
and
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis ...
general elections, to limited success. In the early 1950s, Miki joined
Ichirō Hatoyama
was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. A conservative, Hatoyama helped oversee the 1955 merger of the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party to create the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), of which Hatoyam ...
's
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, which was one of the two main conservative factions of the time and took a stance that was critical of
Shigeru Yoshida
(22 September 1878 – 20 October 1967) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954. Yoshida was one of the longest-serving Japanese prime ministers, and is the third-long ...
and his
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. These two factions eventually merged in 1955 to form the modern-day
Liberal Democratic Party, which Miki joined as well.
Miki was a friend of the father of
Tomoya Kawakita. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Miki got Kawakita a job as an interpreter for Oeyama Nickel Industry Company. Kawakita later worked in a POW camp for the company and brutalized American POWs. After Kawakita was convicted of treason following Japan's surrender, Miki lobbied on his behalf.
Later political career (in the LDP)
As the
foreign minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
under Prime Minister
Satō
is the most common Japanese surname, often romanized as Sato, Satoh or Satou. A less common variant is . Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese actress and voice actress
*, Japanese actress
*, Japanese judoka
*, Japanese writer
* ...
, Miki secretly met in 1967 with American diplomat
U. Alexis Johnson
Ural Alexis Johnson (October 17, 1908 – March 24, 1997) was a United States diplomat.
Background
Ural Alexis Johnson was born in Falun, Kansas, into a family of Swedish descent. His mother named him for Ural Mountains, the mountain range, of w ...
to discuss "how to reconcile Japanese desire for
reversion ">f Okinawawith
merican
''Merican'' is an EP by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for Fat Wreck Chords and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album ''Cool to Be You'', released the follow ...
military requirements." This was part of a series of resolute attempts by several Japanese officials within the same time period aimed at convincing the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to reconsider its continued hold on
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, which the U.S. had formerly insisted should remain under American protection so long as there was any remaining instability in East Asia. In matters of regional foreign policy, Miki was an early advocate of
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
economic cooperation and, in 1968, he said that "'it would be an act of suicide on our part to create an exclusive and closed trading bloc in the Pacific area." Despite this,
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
would later decline to invite now-Prime Minister Miki to the organisation's very first summit at
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
in 1976, as economic perceptions towards Japan in the region were negative because of resentment towards both
wartime abuse by Imperial Japan as well as Japan's
current status as a powerful economic giant with a heavy trade surplus.
Miki took over from
Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives from 1947 Japanese general election, 1947 to 1990 Japanese general election, 1990, and was Prime Minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974.
After ...
as Prime Minister on 9 December 1974, following the latter's implication in the corruption concerning real-estate and construction companies. The attractiveness of Miki to the LDP bosses was chiefly due to his personal integrity, and his weak power base from his small faction. In fact, Miki had neither expected nor wanted to be prime minister at all, as was reflected when upon his election he murmured "a bolt from the blue".
While Miki was at the funeral of ex-PM
Eisaku Sato
Eisaku (written: , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese manga artist
*, Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan
*, Japanese politician
*, Japanese shogi player
*, Japanese painter
*, ...
in 1975, he was assaulted by a right-wing extremist named Hiroyoshi Fudeyasu, the secretary-general of the
Greater Japan Patriotic Party
The , frequently abbreviated to Aikokutō (愛国党, ''Aikokutō''), is a Japanese political party and Uyoku dantai, far-right political group. It was created in 1951 by Right-wing politics, right-wing Ultranationalism, ultranationalist Bin Akao, ...
with foreign dignitaries nearby. This caused criticism of the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police
The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister.
The Tokyo Metro ...
over not doing enough to ensure his safety.
In a 1976
Diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
session, Miki reaffirmed a past order of Prime Minister
Satō
is the most common Japanese surname, often romanized as Sato, Satoh or Satou. A less common variant is . Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese actress and voice actress
*, Japanese actress
*, Japanese judoka
*, Japanese writer
* ...
's cabinet dating back to 1967 in which the percent of the national
GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...
allocated towards
defense spending
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing militar ...
was frozen so as to not exceed 1%. This policy taboo was broken by future Prime Minister
Yasuhiro Nakasone
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1982 to 1987. He was a member of the House of Representatives for more than 50 years. He was best known for pushing through the ...
in the 1980s, but was revived in 1990 by another future Prime Minister,
Toshiki Kaifu
was a Japanese politician who served as the 77th Prime Minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991.
Early life and education
Kaifu was born on 2 January 1931, in Nagoya City, the eldest of six brothers. His family's business Nakamura Photo Studio wa ...
, who was a member of the faction that descended from Miki's faction. This policy has again come under renewed attention within modern Japan in light of contemporary discussions about
constitutional revision and, by extension, the possible expansion of Japan's defense capabilities. In any event, Miki also pushed the Diet to fully ratify the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...
, and he also worked to further strengthen previous policies set in motion by Prime Minister
Satō
is the most common Japanese surname, often romanized as Sato, Satoh or Satou. A less common variant is . Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese actress and voice actress
*, Japanese actress
*, Japanese judoka
*, Japanese writer
* ...
which virtually committed Japan to not engage in the export of
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
to any country.
After being elected, Miki attempted to reform the
LDP, relentlessly investigating the
Lockheed bribery scandals
The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft.
The scandal caused consid ...
and refusing to halt the criminal prosecutions being made against his predecessor. Miki also pursued political finance reforms. These activities made him a large number of enemies within the party, and a campaign literally called "Down with Miki" ("''Miki oroshi''") was started by influential faction leaders. Despite Miki's personal popularity with the public, the Lockheed scandal reflected poorly on the party, which lost its overall majority in the 1976 election to the Diet and had to make deals with minor parties to remain in power. As is customary for Japanese political officials following heavy party setbacks, Miki then resigned.
He was succeeded on 24 December 1976, by
Takeo Fukuda
was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978.
Early life and education
Fukuda was born in Gunma, capital of the Gunma Prefecture on 14 January 1905. He hailed from a former samurai family and his father was mayor ...
.
Legacy
In
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
's final days, he took a great interest in Miki's political condition, as Miki was suffering a coup d'état from amongst his own party. Mao had never shown any interest in Miki before, or even mentioned him.
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player
Takeo Spikes
Takeo Gerard Spikes (; born December 17, 1976) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Auburn University. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals 13th overall in ...
was named after Miki.
[Michael Silver]
Face Lift
''Sports Illustrated'', 26 November 2001, Accessed 7 October 2011.
Connection to Seattle
During his time in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Miki spent a period as a dishwasher at noted Japanese restaurant Maneki.
To commemorate the ties of Japan to America, and Seattle in particular, Miki gave 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle to commemorate the
United States Bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...
in 1976. This gift gave birth to the
Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival, still running annually.
Slang Term
In
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, the name "Takeo Miki" (三木武夫) is sometimes used to describe actors or actresses with wooden or no emotional expressions during movies or TV dramas. Some have said that the origin for the slang term stems from Miki's wooden expression during his appearance in news reports.
Honours
*
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously.
Apart fr ...
(14 November 1988; posthumous)
Foreign honour
* :
Sash of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (18 September 1967)
Gallery
File:Ford, Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki - June 30, 1976(Gerald Ford Library)(1553489).pdf, Memorandum of Conversation, White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
state dining room, June 30, 1976
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miki, Takeo
1907 births
1988 deaths
20th-century prime ministers of Japan
Prime Ministers of Japan
People from Tokushima Prefecture
Meiji University alumni
University of Southern California alumni
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
20th-century Japanese politicians
Deputy Prime Ministers of Japan
Foreign ministers of Japan
Politicians from Tokushima Prefecture