was Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who served as

minister for foreign affairs 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 ...

and minister of health and welfare. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan when he was in office. He was one of the significant figures in normalizing the relations between Japan and China.

Early life

Sonoda was born in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

on 11 December 1913.

Career

Sonoda joined the

Japanese army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

in 1938, and served both in China and in the Pacific area 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 ...

. He was commander of a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending ...

squad during the war. In 1947, Sonoda was elected to the

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 ...

, the lower house of the Diet, representing the

. He was previously a member of the Democratic Party. Then he became a member of the LDP when the Democratic Party joined the Liberals. In the 1950s, he was the special envoy of the LDP. He served as parliamentary vice-foreign minister in 1955, and actively involved in normalizing the relations between Japan and the USSR. However, in 1960, he resigned from the LDP due to his objections to the ratification of the US-Japan mutual security treaty. After rejoining the LDP, Sonoda also served as vice speaker of the lower house for two terms: from 20 December 1965 to 27 December 1966 and from 15 February 1967 to 25 November 1967. He served as minister of health and welfare from 1967 to 1968, which he held again from 1980 to 1981. In addition, Sonoda was chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet led 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 ...

from 24 December 1976 to 28 November 1977. Within the LDP Sonoda was against the Nakasone faction and formed his own. He and the members of his faction joined the faction headed by Fukuda in 1972. However, he later left it and joined the faction headed by

Masayoshi Ōhira was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1978 to 1980. Ōhira's time in office was cut short when he died in office; he remains the most recent Japanese Prime Minister to die in office. Early life Masayoshi Ōhira was bo ...

Minister of foreign affairs

Sonoda served as minister of foreign affairs three times: in the cabinet of Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda from November 1977 to December 1978, in the cabinet of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira from December 1978 to November 1979, and in the cabinet of Prime Minister

Zenko Suzuki The Kudara no Konikishi ( ja, 百済王) was a Japanese clan whose founder, Zenkō ( or ), was a son of King Uija, the last king of Baekje, in southwestern Korea. ''Kudara'' was an ''uji'', or clan name, and represented its country of origin, Bae ...

from 17 May to 30 November 1981. During his first term in the ministry of foreign affairs, Japan signed the treaty of peace and friendship with China. This treaty formed the basis of the relationships between two countries. Sonoda represented his country at the signature of this treaty in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

in 1978. He was secondly appointed foreign minister to the cabinet of Masayoshi Ohira who kept this and other three ministries for his own faction. When in office for the second time, Sonoda visited five African countries in July 1979, including

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. He also traveled

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

in August 1979. On 17 May 1981, Sonoda was appointed by Prime Minister and his close friend Zenko Suzuki as foreign minister for the last time due to unexpected resignation of the former Foreign Minister

Masayoshi Ito was a Japanese political figure. He served as acting prime minister of Japan in 1980 after the sudden death of Masayoshi Ōhira. He then served as foreign minister of Japan from 1980 to 1981. Early life Ito was born on 15 December 1913 in Ai ...

. Sonoda called for adopting the omnidirectional diplomacy and unlike his two predecessors, issued entry visas to Soviet economic delegations. He was replaced by

Yoshio Sakurauchi was a Japanese politician and a significant member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was speaker of the House of Representatives of which he was a member for 53 years. Early life and education Sakurauchi was born in Tokyo on 8 May 191 ...

in the post 30 November 1981. The reason for Sonoda's removal from his post was his blunt remarks concerning U.S. policies in June 1981 as well as his other statements detrimental to Japan's relations with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Personal life

Sunao Sonoda married twice. His son from the first marriage, Hiroyuki Sonoda, ran for his father seat in the Kumamoto Prefecture in the general elections of 1986. Sonoda'a second wife,

Tenkoko Sonoda was a Japanese politician who was a member of the Japanese Diet from 1946–1952. In 1950, she became the first woman in Japanese political history to have a baby while in office. Biography Sonoda was born in Tokyo on 23 January 1919. Tenk ...

, also tried to take over her husband's seat in the same election following his death. She was a member of 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 ...

during her marriage to Sunao. They married after World War II and had two children.

Death

Sonoda died of kidney failure at the hospital of

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowment ...

in Tokyo on 2 April 1984.

Honours

National honour

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...

(2 April 1984; posthumous)

Foreign honour

* Bolivia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Condor of the Andes (6 July 1978) * Chile : Grand Cross of the Order of the Bernardo O'Higgins (21 August 1979)

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonoda, Sunao 20th-century Japanese politicians 1913 births 1984 deaths Deaths from kidney failure Foreign ministers of Japan Imperial Japanese Army officers Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II Kamikaze pilots Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) People from Kumamoto Prefecture Politicians from Kumamoto Prefecture Sunao Spouses of Japanese politicians