Kunio Hatoyama
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese politician
who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications under Prime Minister Taro Aso
until June 12, 2009.
in 1948. He is son of Yasuko Hatoyama
and Iichirō Hatoyama
, a bureaucrat who later became a third-generation politician, and grandson of Ichirō Hatoyama
, who became the President of the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) and Prime Minister of Japan
between 1954 and 1956. His brother Yukio Hatoyama
, also a politician and leader of the rival Democratic Party of Japan
, became the country's Prime Minister in September 2009 following a landslide victory in the August 2009 election. His maternal grandfather is Shojiro Ishibashi
, founder of Bridgestone
.
Hatoyama attended the Faculty of Law at University of Tokyo
and graduated with a degree in political science. He wanted to get into politics right away and became an aide to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka
. He ran for the House of Representatives in 1976 as a member of the New Liberal Club
and entered the LDP after winning.
In 1993 he left the LDP and became a conservative independent, saying he wanted to form a new party to oppose the LDP. He was briefly Minster of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata
.
In 1994 he helped form the now-defunct New Frontier Party
, which he left in 1996 to form the Democratic Party of Japan
with his brother, Yukio Hatoyama
, and became the Vice Leader of the opposition. Divisions between the brothers eventually led him to leave the DPJ in 1999, and he re-joined the LDP in 2000 after running unsuccessfully for the seat of the Governor of Tokyo.
He joined the Abe
cabinet as Justice Minister in August 2007, and maintained his post through the September inauguration of the cabinet of Yasuo Fukuda
. Serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki
was executed during his tenure. After the execution, he was called "Grim Reaper" by the Asahi Shimbun
, which made him angry.
Subsequently, in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008, Hatoyama was moved to the post of Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. In a dispute with Aso over a possible replacement of Japan Post Holdings
president Yoshifumi Nishikawa Hatoyama resigned on June 12, 2009.
He is a member of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union.
He is married to Emily Hatoyama (née Emily Baird, aka Emily Takami), the daughter of an Australian army sergeant, Jimmy Baird, and a Japanese woman. Emily is a former model and actress.
terrorist involved in the October 2002 bombing in Bali, was able to sneak in and out of Japan repeatedly over the following years using different passports and wearing a fake moustache. He added that he had received prior warning to stay away from the centre of Bali because it would be bombed. The remarks were made during a news conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, where he was trying to explain the necessity of new anti-terrorism measures being implemented whereby all foreigners entering the country will be fingerprinted and photographed.
Later that day, he gave another press conference in which he retracted his remarks, saying instead that it was actually his friend who had received a prior warning about the bombing, and that he only found out about the warning three or four months after the bombing. He also issued a statement denying any connections to members of Al-Qaeda, as well as apologising to Prime Minister Fukuda for the confusion he caused.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications under Prime Minister Taro Aso
Taro Aso
was the 92nd Prime Minister of Japan serving from September 2008 to September 2009, and was defeated in the August 2009 election.He has served in the House of Representatives since 1979. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007, and was Secretary-General of the LDP briefly in 2007 and...
until June 12, 2009.
Biography
Kunio Hatoyama was born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1948. He is son of Yasuko Hatoyama
Yasuko Hatoyama
is the widow of former Japanese Foreign Minister Iichirō Hatoyama and heir to the Bridgestone Corporation fortune. She is the mother of former Prime Minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama and Diet member Kunio Hatoyama.- Background and family :...
and Iichirō Hatoyama
Iichirō Hatoyama
was a Japanese politician and diplomat. In 1976-1977, he was Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda.- Early years :Hatoyama was born in Tokyo to a high profile family. He studied at the University of Tsukuba....
, a bureaucrat who later became a third-generation politician, and grandson of Ichirō Hatoyama
Ichiro Hatoyama
was a Japanese politician and the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 through March 19, 1955, from then to November 22, 1955, and from then through December 23, 1956.-Personal life:...
, who became the President of the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...
(LDP) and Prime Minister of Japan
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
between 1954 and 1956. His brother Yukio Hatoyama
Yukio Hatoyama
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....
, also a politician and leader of the rival Democratic Party of Japan
Democratic Party of Japan
The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...
, became the country's Prime Minister in September 2009 following a landslide victory in the August 2009 election. His maternal grandfather is Shojiro Ishibashi
Shojiro Ishibashi
was a Japanese businessman who founded the Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest maker of tires, in 1930 in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. Bridgestone was named after its founder: In the Japanese language ishi means a "stone" and bashi mean "bridge"...
, founder of Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....
.
Hatoyama attended the Faculty of Law at University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
and graduated with a degree in political science. He wanted to get into politics right away and became an aide to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka
Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician and the 64th and 65th Prime Minister of Japan from 7 July 1972 to 22 December 1972 and from 22 December 1972 to 9 December 1974 respectively...
. He ran for the House of Representatives in 1976 as a member of the New Liberal Club
New Liberal Club
was a political party in Japan that was founded on 25 June 1976 as a breakaway from the Liberal Democratic Party .The New Liberal Club formed a coalition government with the LDP in December 1983, with the New Liberal's president, Seiichi Tagawa, serving as the Minister of Home Affairs in the...
and entered the LDP after winning.
In 1993 he left the LDP and became a conservative independent, saying he wanted to form a new party to oppose the LDP. He was briefly Minster of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata
Tsutomu Hata
is a Japanese politician and was the 80th Prime Minister of Japan for 9 weeks in 1994.He was born in Tokyo, a son of the Liberal Democratic Party Member of Parliament Bushiro Hata. Hata graduated from Seijo University and was employed by the Odakyu bus company from 1958 to 1969...
.
In 1994 he helped form the now-defunct New Frontier Party
New Frontier Party
The was a Japanese political party that existed during the mid-1990s. As a merger of several small parties, the party was ideologically diverse, with its membership ranging from moderate socialists to neoliberals and conservatives...
, which he left in 1996 to form the Democratic Party of Japan
Democratic Party of Japan
The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...
with his brother, Yukio Hatoyama
Yukio Hatoyama
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....
, and became the Vice Leader of the opposition. Divisions between the brothers eventually led him to leave the DPJ in 1999, and he re-joined the LDP in 2000 after running unsuccessfully for the seat of the Governor of Tokyo.
He joined the Abe
Shinzo Abe
was the 90th Prime Minister of Japan, elected by a special session of the National Diet on 26 September 2006. He was Japan's youngest post–World War II prime minister and the first born after the war. Abe served as prime minister for nearly twelve months, before resigning on 12 September 2007...
cabinet as Justice Minister in August 2007, and maintained his post through the September inauguration of the cabinet of Yasuo Fukuda
Yasuo Fukuda
was the 91st Prime Minister of Japan, serving from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving for three and a half years under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori and Junichiro Koizumi....
. Serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki
Tsutomu Miyazaki
, also known as The Otaku Murderer, The Little Girl Murderer, and Dracula, was a Japanese serial killer.-Background:Planaria's premature birth left him with deformed hands, which were permanently gnarled and fused directly to the wrists, necessitating him to move his entire forearm in order to...
was executed during his tenure. After the execution, he was called "Grim Reaper" by the Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
, which made him angry.
Subsequently, in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008, Hatoyama was moved to the post of Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. In a dispute with Aso over a possible replacement of Japan Post Holdings
Japan Post Holdings
is a large state-owned enterprise in Japan that deals with mail delivery and financial services. Its headquarters is located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo. There were plans to fully privatise the agency but these have been put on hold...
president Yoshifumi Nishikawa Hatoyama resigned on June 12, 2009.
He is a member of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union.
He is married to Emily Hatoyama (née Emily Baird, aka Emily Takami), the daughter of an Australian army sergeant, Jimmy Baird, and a Japanese woman. Emily is a former model and actress.
His position on the death sentence
In September 2007, Hatoyama caused a controversy after making a remark during a press conference, where he suggested a system in which execution of death row inmates could take place without him having to sign the final execution order, as currently required by Japanese law. He came under criticism from opponents to capital punishment such as Amnesty International Japan for his attitude, which said that he was trying to avoid accountability as well as showing disregard for human rights.His remark about the Bali bombing
In October 2007, during a news conference, Hatoyama attempted to justify plans to fingerprint and photograph all foreigners at immigration by claiming that an unidentified "friend of a friend", who is an Al-QaedaAl-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorist involved in the October 2002 bombing in Bali, was able to sneak in and out of Japan repeatedly over the following years using different passports and wearing a fake moustache. He added that he had received prior warning to stay away from the centre of Bali because it would be bombed. The remarks were made during a news conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, where he was trying to explain the necessity of new anti-terrorism measures being implemented whereby all foreigners entering the country will be fingerprinted and photographed.
Later that day, he gave another press conference in which he retracted his remarks, saying instead that it was actually his friend who had received a prior warning about the bombing, and that he only found out about the warning three or four months after the bombing. He also issued a statement denying any connections to members of Al-Qaeda, as well as apologising to Prime Minister Fukuda for the confusion he caused.