Sunao Sonoda

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Sunao Sonoda
園田 直
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
May 1981 – 30 November 1981
Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki
Preceded by Masayoshi Ito
Succeeded by Yoshio Sakurauchi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
December 1978 – November 1979
Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira
Preceded by Himself
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
November 1977 – December 1978
Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by Iichirō Hatoyama
Succeeded by Himself
Personal details
Born 11 December 1913
Kumamoto prefecture
Died 2 April 1984 (aged 69)
Tokyo
Political party Liberal Democratic Party

Sunao Sonoda (園田 直 Sonoda Sunao?, 11 December 1913 – 2 April 1984) was a leading Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician who served as foreign minister and health and welfare minister of Japan. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan when he was in office.[1] He was one of the significant figures in normalizing the relations between Japan and China.[2]

Contents

Early life [edit]

Sonoda was born in Kumamoto prefecture on 11 December 1913.[3]

Career [edit]

Sonoda joined the Japanese army in 1938, and served both in China and in the Pacific area during World War II.[3] More specifically, he was commander of a kamikaze squad during the war.[1] In 1947, Sonoda was elected to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet,[3] being a member of lower house for Kumamoto Prefecture.[4] He was originally a member of the Democratic Party. Then he became a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) when the Democratic Party joined the Liberals.[3]

In the 1950's, he was special envoy of the LDP.[5] He served as parliamentary vice-foreign minister in 1955, and actively involved in normalizing the relations between Japan and the USSR.[3] However, in 1960, he resigned from the LDP due to his objections to the ratification of the US-Japan mutual security treaty.[3]

After rejoining the LDP, Sonoda also served as vice speaker of the lower house (1965-1967)[6] and minister of health and welfare(1967-1968),[2] which he held again from 1980 to 1981.[3]

In addition, Sonoda was chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet of Takeo Fukuda who was in office from 1976 to 1978.[7] Sonoda was part of the faction headed by Fukuda in the 1970s.[8] However, he later joined the faction headed by Masayoshi Ōhira.[9]

Minister of foreign affairs [edit]

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 from 17 May to 30 November 1981.[10]

During his first term in the ministry of foreign affairs, Japan signed the treaty of peace and friendship with China.[11] This treaty formed the basis of the relationships between two countries.[1] Sonoda represented his country at the signature of this treaty in Beijing in 1978.[2] Sonoda was secondly appointed foreign minister to the cabinet of Masayoshi Ohira who kept this and other three ministeries for his own faction.[9] When in office for the second time, Sonoda visited five African countries in July 1979, including Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Senegal.[12]

On 17 May 1981, Sonoda was appointed by then 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.[13][14] Sonoda called for adopting the omnidirectional diplomacy and unlike his two precedessors, issued entry visas to Soviet economic delegations.[14] Sonoda was replaced by Yoshio Sakurauchi who was appointed foreign minister by prime minister Zenko Suzuki on 30 November 1981.[15] 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.[16][17]

Personal life [edit]

Sunao Sonoda married twice. His son from the first marriage, Hiroyuki Sonoda, ran for his father seat in Kumamoto Prefecture in the general elections of 1986.[4] Sonoda'a second wife, Tenkoko Sonoda, also tried to take over her husband's seat in the same election after his death.[4] Tenkoko Sonoda was a member of the Diet during her marriage.[18] They married after World War II[19] and had two children.[18]

Death [edit]

Sonoda died of kidney failure at Keio University hospital in Tokyo on 2 April 1984.[10] He was 69.

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Former Japanese minister Sonoda". The Montreal Gazette. 3 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  2. ^ a b c Louis Frédéric; Käthe Roth (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 902. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Sonoda, Sunao". Rulers. Retrieved 9 January 2013. 
  4. ^ a b c Jameson, Sam (4 July 1986). "Family Connections Growing in Importance in Japanese Politics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  5. ^ Kramer, Eugene (4 September 1956). "Japanese diplomat paced famed duch 11 years ago". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Tokyo). Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  6. ^ Tahara, Kanako (25 May 2002). "Secret funds have oiled wheels for decades". The Japan Times. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  7. ^ Iwao Hoshii (1993). Japan's Pseudo-Democracy. Japan Library. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-873410-07-3. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  8. ^ "What's Behind The Cabinet Shakeup?". EIR 4 (49). 6 December 1977. Retrieved 8 January 2013. 
  9. ^ a b Klein, Donald W. (January 1979). . "Japan 1978: The Consensus Continues". Asian Survey 19 (1): 30–40. Retrieved 14 January 2013. 
  10. ^ a b "Ex-Japanese Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda". Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal. 2 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  11. ^ "Sunao Sonoda, foreign minister". The Evening Independent (Tokyo). AP. 2 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  12. ^ Jun Morikawa (1997). Japan and Africa: Big Business and Diplomacy. Hurst. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-85065-141-3. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  13. ^ Stokes, Henry Scott (17 May 1981). "Japan replaces foreign minister in rift over U.S.". The New York Times. p. 1. 
  14. ^ a b Hiroshi Kimura (2000). Distant Neighbours: Japanese-Russian relations under Brezhnev and Andropov. M.E. Sharpe. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-7656-0585-6. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  15. ^ "Japan's cabinet shuffled". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Tokyo). UPI. 30 November 1981. Retrieved 1 January 2013. 
  16. ^ Sneider, Daniel (5 January 1982). "Tokyo emerges from the strategic shadow of the United States". EIR 9 (1): 56–57. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  17. ^ Murray, Geoffrey (1 December 1981). "Japanese Cabinet shaken up to tackle big problems". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  18. ^ a b Wijers-Hasegawa, Yumi (18 August 2006). "Pioneer for women seeks home for peace dolls". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
  19. ^ Daimon, Sayuri (20 December 2007). "A long life of peace that sprung from war". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 
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