Hitoshi Ashida

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Ashida".

Hitoshi Ashida 芦田 均
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 10 March 1948 – 15 October 1948
Monarch	Shōwa
Governor	Douglas MacArthur
Preceded by	Tetsu Katayama
Succeeded by	Shigeru Yoshida
Personal details
Born	15 November 1887(1887-11-15) Fukuchiyama, Japan
Died	20 June 1959(1959-06-20) (aged 71)
Political party	Japan Democratic Party (1950–1959)
Other political affiliations	Friends of Constitutional Government (Before 1945) Liberal Party (1945–1950)
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University

Hitoshi Ashida (L) during a visit to Israel in 1958, with Golda Meir and Japan Ambassador to Israel, Kuniyoshi Negishi

Hitoshi Ashida (芦田 均, Ashida Hitoshi, November 15, 1887  – June 20, 1959) was a Japanese politician who served as the 47th Prime Minister of Japan from March 10 to October 15, 1948. He was a prominent figure in the immediate postwar political landscape, but was forced to resign his leadership responsibilities after a corruption scandal targeting two of his cabinet ministers.

Early political life

Ashida was born in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto and studied French civil law at Tokyo Imperial University. After graduation, he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for twenty years.

In 1932, Ashida ran his first successful campaign for a seat in the House of Representatives as a member of the Seiyukai Party. He sided with Ichirō Hatoyama's "orthodox" wing following the Seiyukai's split in 1939.

After the war, Ashida won a seat in the new Diet as a member of the Liberal Party, which soon merged with Kijūrō Shidehara's Progressive Party to form the Japan Democratic Party. Ashida was elected president of the new party, and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1947 under Socialist prime minister Tetsu Katayama.

Prime Minister and later life

Ashida became prime minister in 1948, leading a coalition government of Democratic and Socialist members. His tenure ended just seven months after it began. Two of his cabinet ministers were accused of corruption in the Showa Electric scandal, which forced the cabinet to resign.

Ten years later, in 1958, Ashida was cleared of all charges in relation to the incident. He died a year later at the age of seventy-one.

Political offices
Preceded by Shigeru Yoshida	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1947–1948	Succeeded by Shigeru Yoshida
Preceded by Tetsu Katayama	Prime Minister of Japan 1948
Preceded by Kijūrō Shidehara	Minister of State: Deputy Prime Minister 1947–1948	Succeeded by Suehiro Nishio
Preceded by Kenzō Matsumura	Minister for Health and Welfare 1945–1946	Succeeded by Yoshinari Kawai
House of Representatives of Japan
New district	Representative for Kyoto 2nd district 1947−1959 Served alongside: Yoshie Ōishi, Shigesaburō Maeo, many others	Vacant Title next held by Sen'ichi Tanigaki etc.
New district	Representative for Kyoto At-large district 1946−1947 Served alongside: Chōzaburō Mizutani, Fusa Tomita, Isaji Tanaka, Yoshie Ōishi, Takeo Nakano, Katsumi Takeuchi, Hanji Ogawa, Chiyo Kimura, Taminouke Tsujii	district eliminated
Preceded by Takeshi Tsuhara Kunikichi Murakami San'ichirō Mizushima	Representative for Kyoto 3rd district 1932−1946 Served alongside: Momozō Nagata, San'ichirō Mizushima, Takeshi Tsuhara, Kunikichi Murakami, Keijirō Okada	district eliminated
Party political offices
New political party	President of the Democratic Party 1947–1948	Succeeded by Takeru Inukai
Preceded by Nirō Hoshijima	PARC chairman of the Japan Liberal Party 1946–1947	Succeeded by Seiichi Ōmura