Masayoshi Ōhira
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007) |
Masayoshi Ōhira | |
|---|---|
大平 正芳 | |
 Ohira in 1980 | |
| 43rd Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 7 December 1978 – 12 June 1980 | |
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| Preceded by | Takeo Fukuda |
| Succeeded by | Masayoshi Itō (Acting) |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 16 July 1974 – 24 December 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Kakuei Tanaka Takeo Miki |
| Preceded by | Takeo Fukuda |
| Succeeded by | Hideo Bo |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 7 July 1972 – 16 July 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Kakuei Tanaka |
| Preceded by | Takeo Fukuda |
| Succeeded by | Toshio Kimura |
| Minister of International Trade and Industry | |
| In office 30 November 1968 – 14 January 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Eisaku Satō |
| Preceded by | Etsusaburo Shiina |
| Succeeded by | Kiichi Miyazawa |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 18 July 1962 – 18 July 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | Hayato Ikeda |
| Preceded by | Zentaro Kosaka |
| Succeeded by | Etsusaburo Shiina |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary | |
| In office 19 July 1960 – 18 July 1962 | |
| Prime Minister | Hayato Ikeda |
| Preceded by | Etsusaburo Shiina |
| Succeeded by | Yasumi Kurogane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 March 1910 Kan'onji, Kagawa, Japan |
| Died | 12 June 1980 (aged 70) Minato, Tokyo, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Shigeko (1916–1990) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Hitotsubashi University |
| Signature |  |
Masayoshi Ōhira (大平 正芳, Ōhira Masayoshi, 12 March 1910 – 12 June 1980) was a Japanese politician and the 43rd Prime Minister of Japan from 7 December 1978 to 12 June 1980. Ōhira was the most recent Japanese prime minister to die in office (Keizō Obuchi was removed from office on 5 April 2000 after suddenly falling into a coma, a month before his death in May 2000).
He was born in present-day Kan'onji, Kagawa and attended Hitotsubashi University.
Political career
At the apex of his political life, Ōhira came to represent what were known as "mainstream factions" within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which put him at odds with Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, who led what were known as an "anti-mainstream" faction.[1] Ōhira served as foreign minister in the cabinet of Kakuei Tanaka until mid-July 1974.[2] In a cabinet reshuffle, he was replaced by Toshio Kimura as foreign minister.[2] Ōhira was appointed by Tanaka as finance minister in the same reshuffle and replaced Takeo Fukuda in July 1974.[2]
Ōhira was elected to the presidency of the LDP in late 1978. On 7 December 1978, he was appointed 68th Prime Minister, successfully pushing Takeo Fukuda from his position.[3]
Ōhira was the sixth Christian to hold this office after Hara Takashi, Takahashi Korekiyo, Ichirō Hatoyama, Tetsu Katayama, and Shigeru Yoshida.
In the general election of 1979, the LDP narrowly failed to win an outright majority, but enough independent members of the Diet joined the party to enable Ōhira to remain in office, and he was duly reappointed on 9 November of that year. On 16 May 1980, a vote of no confidence was held in the Diet.
Ōhira expected the motion to fail, and was visibly shaken when it passed 243–187. 69 members of his own LDP, including Fukuda, abstained. Given the choice of resigning or calling new elections, Ōhira chose the latter and began campaigning for LDP candidates. He was hospitalized for exhaustion on 31 May and died of a massive heart attack 12 days later.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Ito acted in Ōhira's place as deputy after his death. Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Secretary General of LDP, led the LDP to its greatest victory in fifteen years, capitalizing on the "sympathy vote" generated by Ōhira's death. The Prime Minister was succeeded by Zenkō Suzuki after the election.
G8 summit
In 1979, Ōhira was the chairman and host of the 5th G7 summit in Tokyo but his fatal heart attack on 12 June happened only days before the 6th G7 summit was about to begin in Italy. Ōhira's colleague, Foreign Affairs Minister Saburo Okita, led the delegation which represented Japan in his place. Others joining Okita in traveling to the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore were Finance Minister Noboru Takeshita and the head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.[4]
Honours
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (12 June 1980; posthumous)[5]
- Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan (1980)[6]
- In Mexico City, Mexico, a park was named after him; it is located south of Rio Churubusco avenue and East of Tlalpan avenue.
Foreign honour
Malaya : Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (S.M.N.) (1964)[7]
References
- ^ Nihon Kōgyō Shinbunsha. (1979). Business Japan. Vol. 24, Nos. 10–12, p. 47.
- ^ a b c "Tanaka reshuffles Japanese cabinet". Daytona Beach Morning. Tokyo. AP. 17 July 1974. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Brown, James Robert. (1999). The ministry of finance, p. 199.
- ^ Stokes, Henry Scott. "Japan's Prime Minister Ōhira Dies At 70 as a Critical Election Nears; Japan's Prime Minister Dies at 70 After Heart Attack Plans for Venice Meeting", New York Times. 12 June 1980.
- ^ From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia
- ^ http://reinanzaka-sc.o.oo7.jp/kiroku/documents/20140523-3-kiji-list.pdf
- ^ "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".
Bibliography
- Brown, James Robert. (1999). The ministry of finance: bureaucratic practices and the transformation of the Japanese economy. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56720-230-4; OCLC 39033542
- Satō, Seizaburō Ken'ichi Kōyama and Shunpei Kumon. (1990). [ Postwar Politician: The Life of Former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira.] Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-7700-1499-3
| Empire of Japan, 1868–1947 |
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| State of Japan, 1947–present |
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- 1910 births
- 1980 deaths
- Politicians from Kagawa Prefecture
- Hitotsubashi University alumni
- Prime Ministers of Japan
- Foreign ministers of Japan
- Government ministers of Japan
- Members of the House of Representatives (Japan)
- Japanese Anglicans
- Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
- 20th-century Japanese politicians
- Honorary Grand Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm