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Masayoshi Ohira
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 Masayoshi Ohira at Andrews AFB 1 Jan 1980 |
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68th and 69th Prime Minister of Japan
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| In office December 7, 1978 – June 12, 1980 |
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| Monarch | Emperor Showa |
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| Preceded by | Takeo Fukuda |
| Succeeded by | Zenko Suzuki |
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| Born | March 12, 1910 Kan'onji, Kagawa, Japan |
| Died | June 12, 1980 (aged 70) |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Religion | Anglican |
Masayoshi Ohira (大平 正芳 Ōhira Masayoshi March 12, 1910 – June 12, 1980) was a Japanese politician and the 68th and 69th Prime Minister of Japan from December 7, 1978 to June 12, 1980.
He was born in present day Kan'onji, Kagawa and attended Hitotsubashi University.
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Political career
At the apex of his political life, Ohira came to represent what were known as "mainstream factions" within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which put him at odds with Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, who led what were known as an "anti-mainstream" faction.[1]
Ōhira was elected to the presidency of the LDP in late 1978.
On December 7, 1978, he was appointed 68th Prime Minister, successfully pushing Takeo Fukuda from his position.[2]
Ohira was the fourth Christian to hold this office after Ichirō Hatoyama, Tetsu Katayama, and Shigeru Yoshida.
In the general election of 1979, the LDP narrowly failed to win an outright majority, but enough independent members of the Diet joined the party to enable Ōhira to remain in office, and he was duly reappointed on November 9 of that year. On May 16, 1980, a vote of no confidence was held in the Diet.
Ōhira expected that the motion would fail, and was visibly shaken when it passed 243-187. Sixty-nine members of his own LDP, including Fukuda, abstained. Given the choice of resigning or calling new elections, Ōhira chose the latter and began campaigning for LDP candidates. He was hospitalized for exhaustion on May 31 and died of a massive heart attack 12 days later.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Ito acted in Ōhira's place by deputy after his death. Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Secretary General of LDP, led the LDP to its greatest victory in fifteen years, capitalizing on the sympathy vote generated by Ōhira's death. The Prime Minister was succeeded by Zenko Suzuki after the election.
G8 summit
In 1979, Ohira was the chairman of the 5th G7 summit in Tokyo and its host but his fatal heart attack on June 12th happened only days before the 6th G7 summit was about to begin in Italy. Ohira's colleague, Foreign Affairs Minister Saburo Okita, led the delegation which represented Japan in his place. Others joining Okita in traveling to the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore were Finance Minister Noboru Takeshita and the head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.[3]
Notes
- ^ Nihon Kōgyō Shinbunsha. (1979). Business Japan. Vol. 24, Nos. 10-12, p. 47.
- ^ Brown, James Robert. (1999). The ministry of finance, p. 199.
- ^ Stokes, Henry Scott. "Japan's Prime Minister Ohira Dies At 70 as a Critical Election Nears; Japan's Prime Minister Dies at 70 After Heart Attack Plans for Venice Meeting," New York Times. June 12, 1980.
References
- Brown, James Robert. (1999). The ministry of finance: bureaucratic practices and the transformation of the Japanese economy. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. 10-ISBN 1567202306; 13-ISBN 9781567202304; OCLC 39033542
- Satō, Seizaburō Ken'ichi Kōyama and Shunpei Kumon. (1990). [ Postwar Politician: The Life of Former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira.] Tokyo: Kodansha. 10-ISBN 4-770-01499-6; 13-ISBN 978-4-770-01499-3
| Preceded by Zentaro Kosaka |
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan 1962–1964 |
Succeeded by Etsusaburo Shiina |
| Preceded by Takeo Fukuda |
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan 1972–1974 |
Succeeded by Toshio Kimura |
| Preceded by Helmut Schmidt |
Chair of the G8 1979 |
Succeeded by Francesco Cossiga |
| Preceded by Takeo Fukuda |
Prime Minister of Japan December 7, 1978 – June 12, 1980 |
Succeeded by Zenko Suzuki |
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