Kiichi Miyazawa (宮澤 喜一) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993. Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Miyazawa graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a law degree, and in 1942 joined the Ministry of Finance. He was first elected to the National Diet in 1953 and held a number of prominent posts, including international trade and industry minister under Eisaku Sato, foreign minister under Takeo Miki, director of the Economic Planning Agency under Takeo Fukuda, chief cabinet secretary under Yasuhiro Nakasone, and finance minister under Noboru Takeshita. Miyazawa became prime minister in 1991, but was forced to resign after the 1993 election after a failure to pass political reforms caused his Liberal Democratic Party to face its first defeat in a national election since its formation in 1955. Miyazawa later returned as finance minister from 1999 to 2002 in the cabinets of Keizō Obuchi and Yoshirō Mori.

Early life and education

Miyazawa was born into a wealthy, politically active family in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, 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 and Minister of Railways. Following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, 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 to the National Diet. Miyazawa graduated from Faculty of Law, Imperial University of Tokyo.

Career

In 1942, Miyazawa joined the Ministry of Finance, avoiding military service during World War II. While in the Ministry, he became a protégé of future prime minister Hayato Ikeda. In 1953, at Ikeda's urging, Miyazawa ran for and won election to the Upper House of the National Diet, where he remained until moving to the Lower House in 1967. As a leading figure in Ikeda's Kōchikai 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 (1962-64, 1966-68, 1977-78), Minister of International Trade and Industry (1970–1971), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974–1976), and Chief Cabinet Secretary (1984–1986). He became Minister of Finance under the government of Noboru Takeshita 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, 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 missions as well as negotiating a trade agreement with the United States. It also introduced financial reforms to address the growing economic malaise in Japan in the 1990s. Miyazawa resigned in 1993 after losing a vote of no confidence 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 and Yoshirō Mori. 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 United States. 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.

Honour