was a Japanese politician from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and then from

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 Part ...

. He served as deputy prime minister and finance minister of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 5 January 1996 to 7 November 1996.

Early life and education

Kubo was born in

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

on 15 January 1929. He finished Kagoshima Normal School (currently

Kagoshima University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. History The university was established in 1949 consolidating the following schools because of educational reform in occupied Japan. * - e ...

) and entered Department of Western History, Hiroshima University of Literature and Science (currently

Hiroshima University is a Japanese national university located in Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, Japan. Established in 1929, it was chartered as a university in 1949 following the merge of a number of national educational institutions. History Under the Nationa ...

). He received a bachelor's degree from Hiroshima University of Literature and Science in 1952.

Career

Kubo started his career as a high-school teacher. Then he involved in politics, and in 1963, he was elected to the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly where he served for three terms. He was first elected to the upper house in July 1974 from

Kagoshima at-large district Kagoshima at-large district is a constituency in the House of Councillors of Japan, the upper house of the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It currently elects two members to the House of Councillors, one per election. Outline The constituency ...

. Until 1993 he served as chairman and a member of different committees at the house, including the budget and finance committee in the upper house. In September 1993, he was named as secretary general of the Social Democratic Party during the term of the party chief

Tomiichi Murayama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He led the Japanese Socialist Party, and was responsible for changing its name to the Social Democratic Party (Japan), Social Democratic Party of Japan in 1996. Up ...

. He was also chief finance policy strategist and deputy chairman of the party. He served as vice prime minister and finance minister from 5 January to 7 November 1996 in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto that was a coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, the SDP and

New Party Sakigake The , also known as the New Harbinger Party, was a political party in Japan that broke away from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on 22 June 1993. The party was created by Masayoshi Takemura. The party was centrist, and had many reformist an ...

. Kubo's term ended when Hashimoto inaugurated his second cabinet and the coalition parties SPD and New Party Sakigake remained outside the government. Kubo was succeeded by

Hiroshi Mitsuzuka was a veteran Japanese politician. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. He represented his party at the House of Representatives from 1972 to 2003. In addition, he served as transport minister, international trade minister ...

as finance minister. Kubo left the SPD on 6 January 1997 due to the disagreements with the SPD chief

Takako Doi was a prominent Japanese politician from 1980 until her retirement in 2005. She was the List of female speakers of national and territorial lower houses, first female Lower House Speaker in Japan, the highest position a female politician has ...

. After his resignation, Kubo joined the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Then he became a member of the upper house with the DPJ. He retired from politics as a member of the DPJ in June 2001 after serving four terms at the upper house, being a representative of Kagoshima Prefecture.

Personal life

Kubo had a high rank in

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

. He received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan's top award for contributions to the state and society, in November 2001.

Death

Kubo died at a hospital in Kagoshima on 24 June 2003. He was 74.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubo, Wataru 20th-century Japanese politicians 1929 births 2003 deaths Deputy Prime Ministers of Japan Government ministers of Japan Ministers of Finance of Japan Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Democratic Party of Japan politicians Social Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Politicians from Kagoshima Prefecture Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Hiroshima University alumni Kagoshima University alumni People from Kagoshima Prefecture