Kiichi Miyazawa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kiichi Miyazawa
宮澤 喜一
Official portrait, 1991
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 5 November 1991 – 9 August 1993
Monarch	Akihito
Preceded by	Toshiki Kaifu
Succeeded by	Morihiro Hosokawa
Minister of Finance
In office 30 July 1998 – 26 April 2001
Prime Minister	Keizo Obuchi Yoshiro Mori
Preceded by	Hikaru Matsunaga
Succeeded by	Masajuro Shiokawa
In office 22 July 1986 – 9 December 1988
Prime Minister	Yasuhiro Nakasone Noboru Takeshita
Preceded by	Noboru Takeshita
Succeeded by	Noboru Takeshita (acting)
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
In office 4 August 1993 – 9 August 1993
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Masami Tanabu
Succeeded by	Eijiro Hata
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
In office 20 July 1993 – 9 August 1993
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Junichiro Koizumi
Succeeded by	Takenori Kanzaki
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office 17 July 1980 – 27 November 1982
Prime Minister	Zenko Suzuki
Preceded by	Masayoshi Ito
Succeeded by	Masaharu Gotōda
Director General of the Economic Planning Agency
In office 27 November 1977 – 7 December 1978
Prime Minister	Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by	Tadashi Kuranari
Succeeded by	Tokusaburo Kosaka
In office 3 December 1966 – 30 November 1968
Prime Minister	Eisaku Sato
Preceded by	Eisaku Sato (acting)
Succeeded by	Wataro Kanno
In office 18 July 1962 – 18 July 1964
Prime Minister	Hayato Ikeda
Preceded by	Hayato Ikeda (acting)
Succeeded by	Mamoru Takahashi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 9 December 1974 – 15 September 1976
Prime Minister	Takeo Miki
Preceded by	Toshio Kimura
Succeeded by	Zentaro Kosaka
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office 14 January 1970 – 5 July 1971
Prime Minister	Eisaku Sato
Preceded by	Masayoshi Ohira
Succeeded by	Kakuei Tanaka
Member of the National Diet of Japan House of Councillors (1953–1967) House of Representatives (1967–2003)
In office 19 April 1953 – 9 November 2003
Personal details
Born	(1919-10-08)8 October 1919 Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Empire of Japan
Died	28 June 2007(2007-06-28) (aged 87) Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic
Spouse	Yoko Miyazawa
Children	2
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University
Signature

Kiichi Miyazawa (宮澤 喜一, Miyazawa Kiichi, 8 October 1919 – 28 June 2007) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993. He was a member of the National Diet of Japan for over 50 years.

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

Kiichi Miyazawa 1998

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 (1962-1964), Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1966-1968), Minister of International Trade and Industry (1970–1971), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974–1976), Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1977–1978), 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 with Bill Clinton at the Garden of Iikura Guest House on 6 July 1993

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.

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

With Robert Rubin (on 26 April 1999)

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 [zh]. 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.

See also

In Spanish: Kiichi Miyazawa para niños