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 S ...

from 1991 to 1993. He was a member of the

National Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a par ...

for over 50 years.

Early life and education

Miyazawa was born into a wealthy, politically active family in

Fukuyama, Hiroshima is a city located on the Ashida River in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of September 30, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 468,812 and a population density of 904.80 persons per km2. The total area is . After Hiroshima, it is the l ...

, on 8 October 1919, as the eldest son of politician Yutaka Miyazawa and his wife Koto. His father was a member of the Diet, and his mother was the daughter of politician Ogawa Heikichi, who served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and Minister of Railways. Following the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

, Miyazawa lived at his grandfather Ogawa Heikichi's villa Kasuian in Hiratsuka. At the time, his father Yutaka worked for Yamashita Kisen, whilst planning to move his political career from

Hiroshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the ...

to the National Diet. Miyazawa graduated from

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

with a degree in law.

Career

In 1942, Miyazawa joined the Ministry of Finance, avoiding military service 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. While in the Ministry, he became a protégé of future prime minister

Hayato Ikeda was a Japanese bureaucrat and later politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double Japan's GDP in ten years. Ikeda is also known for repairing U.S.- ...

. In 1953, at Ikeda's urging, Miyazawa ran for and won election to the Upper House of the

National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

, where he remained until moving to the Lower House in 1967. As a leading figure in Ikeda's

Kōchikai is a leading faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded by bureaucrat-turned-politician Ikeda Hayato in 1957. Currently headed by Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, it has produced five prime ministers (Ikeda, Masayoshi ...

policy group, Miyazawa was considered a member of Ikeda's "brains trust." In 1961, Miyazawa accompanied Ikeda to a summit meeting with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and due to his excellent English, served as Ikeda's sole translator during the latter's "yacht talks" with Kennedy on Kennedy's presidential yacht, the ''Honey Fitz.'' Beginning with the Ikeda cabinet, Miyazawa held a number of important government posts, including Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1962-1964), Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1966-1968), Minister of International Trade and Industry (1970–1971), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974–1976), Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1977–1978), and Chief Cabinet Secretary (1984–1986). He became Minister of Finance under the government of

Noboru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989 during the bubble economy. Takeshita led the largest faction at the time in the Liberal Democratic Party, which he inherited from Kakuei Tanaka, from the 1980s ...

in July 1986. However, Miyazawa had to resign from this post 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. In 1992, while he was in South Korea, he formally apologized for Japan's use of

comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ian ...

, making him the first Japanese leader to acknowledge that Japan's military coerced women into sexual slavery before and during the second world war. His government passed a law allowing Japan to send its forces overseas for

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United ...

missions as well as negotiating a trade agreement with 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It also introduced financial reforms to address the growing economic

malaise As a medical term, malaise is a feeling of general discomfort, uneasiness or lack of wellbeing and often the first sign of an infection or other disease. The word has existed in French since at least the 12th century. The term is often used ...

in Japan in the 1990s. Miyazawa resigned in 1993 after losing a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

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

Miyazawa later returned to frontbench politics when he was once again appointed finance minister from 1998 to 2001 in the governments of

Keizō Obuchi was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000. Obuchi was elected to the House of Representatives in Gunma Prefecture in 1963, becoming the youngest legislator in Japanese history, and was re-elected to his ...

and

Yoshirō Mori is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between April 2000 and April 2001. He was unpopular in opinion polls during his time in office, and is known for making controversial statements, both during and after his ...

. In 1998, Miyazawa replaced Hikaru Matsunaga as finance minister. He served a total of 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

. He and his wife, Yoko, had two children: Hiro, an architect, and Keiko, who became wife of diplomat Christopher J. Lafleur. 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

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Miyazawa, Kiichi 1919 births 2007 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Japan People from Fukuyama, Hiroshima University of Tokyo alumni Prime Ministers of Japan Deputy Prime Ministers of Japan Economic planning ministers of Japan Ministers of Finance of Japan Ministers of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Foreign ministers of Japan Kiichi Politicians from Hiroshima Prefecture