Kiichi Miyazawa
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In office November 5, 1991 – August 9, 1993 |
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Monarch | Akihito |
Preceded by | Toshiki Kaifu |
Succeeded by | Morihiro Hosokawa |
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Born | October 8, 1919 Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan |
Died | June 28, 2007 (aged 87) Tokyo, Japan |
Nationality | Japanese |
Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
Kiichi Miyazawa (宮澤 喜一 Miyazawa Kiichi?, October 8, 1919–June 28, 2007) was a Japanese politician and the 78th Prime Minister from November 5, 1991 to August 9, 1993.
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Miyazawa was born in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, and graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a degree in law. In 1942 he joined the Ministry of Finance. In 1953 he was elected to the upper house of the Diet of Japan, where he stayed until moving to the lower house in 1967.
Miyazawa held a number of prominent public positions, including Minister of International Trade and Industry (1970–71), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974–76), Director General of the Economic Planning Agency (1977–78), and Chief Cabinet Secretary (1984–86). He became Minister of Finance under the government of Noboru Takeshita in 1987, but had to resign amid the Recruit scandal.[1]
Miyazawa became Prime Minister on November 5, 1991, and gained brief fame in the United States when President George H. W. Bush vomited in his lap and fainted during a state dinner on January 8, 1992.
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.[1]
Miyazawa later returned to frontbench politics when he was once again appointed finance minister from 1999 to 2002 in the governments of Keizo Obuchi and Yoshiro Mori. His political career ended after he retired from the Diet of Japan in 2003.
Miyazawa was also a member of the Trilateral Commission.
Preceded by Helmut Kohl |
Chair of the G8 1993 |
Succeeded by Silvio Berlusconi |
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