Kunio Hatoyama facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kunio Hatoyama
鳩山 邦夫
Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
In office 24 September 2008 – 16 June 2009
Prime Minister	Tarō Asō
Preceded by	Hiroya Masuda
Succeeded by	Tsutomu Sato
Minister of Justice
In office 27 August 2007 – 2 August 2008
Prime Minister	Shinzō Abe Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by	Jinen Nagase
Succeeded by	Okiharu Yasuoka
Minister of Labour
In office 28 March 1994 – 30 June 1994
Prime Minister	Tsutomu Hata
Preceded by	Chikara Sakaguchi
Succeeded by	Mansō Hamamoto
Minister of Education
In office 5 November 1991 – 12 December 1992
Prime Minister	Kiichi Miyazawa
Preceded by	Yutaka Inoue
Succeeded by	Mayumi Moriyama
Personal details
Born	(1948-09-13)13 September 1948 Tokyo, Japan
Died	21 June 2016(2016-06-21) (aged 67) Tokyo, Japan
Political party	1976: NLC-endorsed independent 1978: LDP 1993: Independent Jan. 1994: "Assembly of Reform" July 1994: "Liberal Reform League" Dec. 1994: NFP 1996: ("Old") DPJ 1998: ("New") DPJ 1999: Independent 2000: LDP 2010: Independent 2012: LDP
Spouse	Emily Hatoyama
Children	Tarō Hatoyama Hanako Hatoyama Jirō Hatoyama
Alma mater	University of Tokyo

Kunio Hatoyama (鳩山邦夫, Hatoyama Kunio, 13 September 1948 – 21 June 2016) was an important Japanese politician. He served as a government minister in several roles, including Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and Minister of Justice. He came from a famous political family in Japan.

Early Life and Family

Kunio Hatoyama (far left) with members of the Yasuo Fukuda Cabinet in 2007

Kunio Hatoyama with American ambassador Tom Schieffer in 2008

Kunio Hatoyama was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1948. He was part of a very well-known family in Japanese politics. His father, Iichirō Hatoyama, was a politician, and his grandfather, Ichirō Hatoyama, even became the Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956.

Kunio's brother, Yukio Hatoyama, also became a politician and later served as Prime Minister. Their maternal grandfather, Shōjirō Ishibashi, was the founder of the famous tire company, Bridgestone.

Education and First Steps in Politics

Kunio Hatoyama studied law at the University of Tokyo, one of Japan's top universities. He earned a degree in political science. After graduating, he quickly decided to pursue a career in politics. He started by working as an assistant to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.

Political Career

In 1976, Kunio Hatoyama successfully ran for a seat in the House of Representatives. This is like the lower house of Japan's parliament. He first joined the New Liberal Club party and later became a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Serving as Minister

Over his career, Hatoyama held several important positions in the Japanese government.

• In 1991, he became the Minister of Education.
• In 1994, he served as the Minister of Labour.
• Later, in 2007, he was appointed Minister of Justice.
• From 2008 to 2009, he was the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications.

Changing Political Parties

Kunio Hatoyama was known for changing political parties a few times during his career. In 1993, he left the LDP because he wanted to create a new political party. He helped form the New Frontier Party in 1994.

In 1996, he left that party to help start the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with his brother, Yukio Hatoyama. He became a vice-leader of this new opposition party. However, he later left the DPJ in 1999 and rejoined the LDP in 2000. He remained with the LDP for most of his later career.

Personal Life

Kunio Hatoyama was married to Emily Hatoyama, who was a former model and actress. They had three children together: Tarō, Hanako, and Jirō Hatoyama. He also had five grandchildren.

Kunio Hatoyama passed away in Tokyo on June 21, 2016, at the age of 67.

Ancestry