Noboru Takeshita

Takeshita, Noboru (täkĕsh'tä), 1924-2000, Japanese politician, b. Kakeya. The son of a sake brewer, he was first elected to parliament in 1958 and served as chief cabinet secretary, construction minister, and finance minister (1979-80, 1982-86). Leader of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), he became head of the party and prime minister in 1987 and led Japan's emergence as a champion of the developing nations of Asia. He was forced to resign in 1989 as a result of a bribery scandal that involved several major party figures. A skillful practitioner of patronage-based machine politics, Takeshita remained leader of his faction in the LDP and was a powerful behind-the-scenes political figure in Japan through the 1990s. He resigned from parliament in 2000, shortly before his death.