Yoshiro Mori
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| Yoshiro Mori | |
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85th and 86th
Prime Minister of Japan |
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| In office April 5, 2000 – April 26, 2001 |
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| Monarch | Akihito |
| Preceded by | Keizo Obuchi |
| Succeeded by | Junichiro Koizumi |
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| In office August 8, 1995 – January 11, 1996 |
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| Prime Minister | Tomiichi Murayama |
| Preceded by | Koken Nosaka |
| Succeeded by | Eiichi Nakao |
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| In office December 12, 1992 – July 20, 1993 |
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| Prime Minister | Kiichi Miyazawa |
| Preceded by | Kozo Watanabe |
| Succeeded by | Hiroshi Kumagai |
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129th
Minister of Education |
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| In office December 27, 1983 – November 1, 1984 |
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| Prime Minister | Yasuhiro Nakasone |
| Preceded by | Mitsuo Setoyama |
| Succeeded by | Hikaru Matsunaga |
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Member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa's 2nd district
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1996 |
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| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Majority | 129,785 (57.63%) |
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| Born | July 14, 1937 Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Chieko |
| Children | Yuki |
| Alma mater | Waseda University |
| Religion | Buddhism and Shinto |
| Website | Yoshiro Mori WebSite |
Yoshiro Mori (森 喜朗 Mori Yoshirō, born July 14, 1937) is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan starting at April 5, 2000 ending April 26, 2001. Commonly described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark,"[1][2] he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally inappropriate actions. He is currently President of the Japan Rugby Football Union as well as the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union.
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[edit] Early political life
Yoshiro Mori was born in present-day Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan, as the son of Shigeki and Kaoru Mori, wealthy rice farmers with a history in politics, as both his father and grandfather served as the mayor of Neagari, Ishikawa Prefecture. His mother died when Yoshiro was seven years old.
He studied at the Waseda University in Tokyo, joining the rugby union club. Afterwards he joined the Sankei Shimbun, a conservative newspaper in Japan. In 1962, he left the newspaper and became secretary of a Diet member, and in 1969, he was elected in the lower house at age 32. He was reelected 10 consecutive times. In 1980, he was involved in the Recruit scandal about receiving unlisted shares of Recruit Cosmos before they were publicly traded, and selling them after they were made public for a profit of approximately 1 million dollars. He was education minister in 1983 and 1984, International trade and industry minister in 1992 and 1993, and construction minister in 1995 and 1996.
[edit] Prime Minister
Mori's predecessor, Keizo Obuchi, suffered a stroke on April 2, 2000 and was unable to continue this office. Therefore, Mori, who was the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), became the prime minister.
His position in office was marred with a long list of faux-pas, unpopular decisions, PR mistakes and gaffes:
- One of the earliest occurred at Obuchi's funeral, when Mori failed to clap and bow properly before Obuchi's shrine, an important portion of a traditional Japanese funeral rite. The other world leaders present at the funeral, including former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, performed the ritual correctly.
- On meeting U.S. President Bill Clinton in the 26th G8 summit in Okinawa Prefecture, he asked Clinton "Who are you?", with the intention of saying "How are you?". Since Clinton thought it was a joke, he answered (in English) "I'm Hillary's husband, and you?", to which Mori answered "Me, too". However, this story may be apocryphal.
- At a meeting of Shinto leaders in Tokyo, Mori described Japan as "the nation of the gods, with the Emperor at its center." This "divine nation statement" stirred controversy in Japan, as the statement sounded like he was in support of offering the Emperor absolute power.
- During the election campaign of 2000, one of his most notable "slip of the tongue" happened in a speech in Niigata on June 20. When asked about recent newspaper reports that showed that roughly half of the voters still had not decided who to vote for, he replied “If they still have no interest in the election, it would be all right if they just slept in on that [election] day.” [1]
- Mori's biggest public relations disaster was to continue a round of golf after receiving the news that the US submarine USS Greeneville had accidentally hit and sunk the Japanese fishing ship Ehime Maru during an emergency surface drill on February 9, 2001, resulting in 9 dead students and teachers.
- Mori promised then newly elected ROC President Chen Shui-bian that he would celebrate if Chen won the 2000 presidential elections. This promise was not fulfilled until late 2003, at the time Chen was running for re-election to a second term.
Mori was not particularly popular at any time during his term, toward the end of his term, his approval rating dropped to single digits. He was replaced by Junichiro Koizumi on April 26, 2001.
Mori remains a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Second District of Ishikawa. He is married to Chieko (born: Chieko Maki), a fellow Waseda University student, and he has a son, Yūki Mori, and a daughter, Yoko Fujimoto. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2004.
Although he was retired, his effect have remained until Yasuo Fukuda. Mori, Koizumi, Abe and Fukuda all came from the faction known as Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai (清和政策研究会).
[edit] Cabinets
Mori appointed three cabinets. The third cabinet is officially referred to as a continuation of the second cabinet, as the changes came amid a major administrative realignment in January 2001 that eliminated several cabinet positions and renamed several key ministries.
| First Cabinet (April 2000) |
Second Cabinet (July 2000) |
Second Cabinet, Realigned (Jan. 2001) |
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| Chief Cabinet Secretary and Okinawa Development | Mikio Aoki | Yasuo Fukuda | Chief Cabinet Secretary | Yasuo Fukuda |
| Administrative Reform, Okinawa and Northern Territories | Ryutaro Hashimoto | |||
| Foreign Affairs | Yohei Kono | Yohei Kono | Yohei Kono | |
| Justice | Hideo Usui | Okiharu Yasuoka | Masahiko Komura | |
| Finance | Kiichi Miyazawa | Kiichi Miyazawa | Kiichi Miyazawa | |
| Education | Hirofumi Nakasone | Tadamori Oshima | Nobutaka Machimura | |
| Health and Welfare | Yuya Niwa | Yuji Tsushima | Health, Labor and Welfare | Chikara Sakaguchi |
| Labor | Takamori Makino | Yoshio Yoshikawa | ||
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | Tokuichiro Tamazawa | Yoichi Tani | Yoshio Yatsu | |
| International Trade and Industry | Takashi Fukaya | Takeo Hiranuma | Economy, Trade and Industry | Takeo Hiranuma |
| Transport | Toshihiro Nikai | Hajime Morita | Land, Infrastructure and Transport | Chikage Oogi |
| Construction | Masaaki Nakayama | Chikage Oogi | ||
| Home Affairs | Kosuke Hori | Mamoru Nishida | Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications | Toranosuke Katayama |
| Posts and Telecommunications | Eita Yashiro | Kozo Hirabayashi | ||
| Management and Coordination Agency | Kunihiro Tsuzuki | Kunihiro Tsuzuki | ||
| Japan Defense Agency | Tsutomu Kawara | Kazuo Torashima | Toshitsugu Saito | |
| Economic Planning Agency | Taichi Sakaiya | Taichi Sakaiya | Economic and Fiscal Policy | Tarō Asō |
| Environment | Kayoko Shimizu | Yoriko Kawaguchi | Yoriko Kawaguchi | |
| Financial Reconstruction | Sadakazu Tanigaki | Hideyuki Aizawa | Financial Affairs | Hakuo Yanagisawa |
| National Public Safety Commission | Bunmei Ibuki | |||
| Council for Science and Technology Policy | Takashi Sasagawa | |||
[edit] Japanese Rugby
Mori played the game of rugby union at Waseda University and developed a passion for it there, though he was never a high-level player. In June 2005, he became President of the Japan Rugby Football Union and it had been hoped his clout would help secure the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup for Japan, but instead the event was awarded to New Zealand in late November 2005.
[edit] Gallery
 Mori with George W. Bush |
 Mori with Bush |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
| Preceded by Mikio Aoki |
Chair of the G8 2000 |
Succeeded by Giuliano Amato |
| Preceded by Keizo Obuchi |
Prime Minister of Japan 2000-2001 |
Succeeded by Junichiro Koizumi |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Yoshiro Mori |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 森 喜朗; Mori Yoshirō |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 86th Prime Minister of Japan |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 14, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
