Hosokawa Cabinet

Last updated
Hosokawa Cabinet
Flag of Japan.svg
79th Cabinet of Japan
Morihiro Hosokawa Cabinet 19930809.jpg
Date formedAugust 9, 1993
Date dissolvedApril 28, 1994
People and organisations
Emperor Akihito
Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa
Deputy Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata
Member parties
Status in legislature Minority (coalition) (Lower House)
262 / 511(51%)
Opposition parties
Opposition leader Yōhei Kōno (LDP)
History
Election 40th general election (1993)
Predecessor Miyazawa Cabinet
(Reshuffle)
Successor Hata Cabinet

The Hosokawa Cabinet governed Japan from August 9, 1993 to April 28, 1994 under the premiership of Morihiro Hosokawa. In Japan, his administration is generally referred to as a representative example of non-LDP and non-JCP Coalition.

Contents

Political background

Formed in the aftermath of the 1993 general election, this cabinet was a broad based coalition of parties of both left (the JSP and DSP), right (JRP, JNP and NPS) and religious politics (Komeito). A series of defections had cost the LDP its majority before the 1993 election, after which all non-Communist opposition parties coalesced with the aim of creating the first non-LDP government in 38 years and achieving electoral reform. Despite the fact that the conservative Japan Renewal Party and the left-wing Japan Socialist Party were the largest parties in the coalition, Ichirō Ozawa (who negotiated the formation of the government) and his allies in the JRP pushed for Morihiro Hosokawa, a former governor of Kumamoto Prefecture and the leader of the small Japan New Party, to lead the government. Hosokawa was elected by the Diet on August 6, and took office as the first non-LDP Prime Minister for four decades. The Prime Minister himself was the only New Party member of the cabinet, which was mostly dominated by the JRP and the Socialists. [1]

The coalition achieved Hosokawa's goal of electoral reform, replacing the previous system of multi-member districts with a combined system of single-member districts, elected by first past the post, and blocs of proportional representation candidates. But having achieved this, and replaced the LDP, the unifying purpose of the coalition was lost and ideological differences between the parties, especially over tax and defence policy, began to split the cabinet. [2] [3] Following revelations of a campaign finance scandal, Hosokawa announced his surprise resignation on April 8, 1994. [4] [5] After several weeks of negotiations, foreign minister Tsutomu Hata of the JRP became Prime Minister on April 28. [6]

Election of the prime minister

6 August 1993
Absolute majority (256/511) required
House of Representatives
ChoiceFirst Vote
Votes
Yes check.svg Morihiro Hosokawa
262 / 511
Yōhei Kōno
224 / 511
Others and Abstentions (Including Speaker and Deputy)
25 / 511
Source [7]

Ministers

   Japan New
   Renewal
   New Party Sakigake
   Komeito
   Democratic Socialist
   Socialist
   Independent
R = Member of the House of Representatives
C = Member of the House of Councillors

Cabinet of Morihiro Hosokawa from August 9, 1993 to April 28, 1994
PortfolioMinisterTerm of Office
Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Takemura RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tsutomu Hata RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Justice Akira Mikazuki -August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Finance Hirohisa Fujii RAugust 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Minister of Education Ryōko Akamatsu -August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Minister of Health and Welfare Keigo Ōuchi RAugust 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Minister of Labour Chikara Sakaguchi RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Eijiro Hata  [ ja ]RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of International Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kumagai RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Transport Shigeru Itō RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Construction Kozo Igarashi RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Home Affairs
Director of the National Public Safety Commission
Kanju Sato RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Takenori Kanzaki RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Management and Coordination Agency Koshiro Ishida RAugust 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Director of the Japan Defense Agency Keisuke Nakanishi RAugust 9, 1993 – December 1, 1993
Kazuo Aichi RDecember 1, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the National Land Agency
Director of the Hokkaido Development Agency
Director of the Okinawa Development Agency Development,
Kosuke Uehara RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Economic Planning Agency Manae Kubota CAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Environment Agency Wakako Hironaka CAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Science and Technology Agency Satsuki Eda RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of State (in charge of political reform) Sadao Yamahana RAugust 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994

Changes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morihiro Hosokawa</span> Prime Minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994

Morihiro Hosokawa is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994, leading a coalition government which was the first non-Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government of Japan since 1955. After successfully implementing various election and trade reforms, he stepped down from the role of Prime Minister in early 1994. He later ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for Governor of Tokyo in the February 2014 gubernatorial election as an independent supported by the Democratic Party of Japan. He has been, since 2005, the head of the Kumamoto-Hosokawa clan, one of the former noble families of Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsutomu Hata</span> Japanese politician (1935–2017)

Tsutomu Hata was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan for nine weeks in 1994. He took over from Morihiro Hosokawa at the head of a coalition government. Shortly after he had been appointed Prime Minister, the Japanese Socialist Party left the government, leading to his early departure from office. He was a member of the lower house representing Nagano district #3. He was elected 14 times, retiring in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomiichi Murayama</span> Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996 (born 1924)

Tomiichi Murayama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He led the Japan Socialist Party, and was responsible for changing its name to the Social Democratic Party of Japan in 1996. Upon becoming Prime Minister, he was Japan's first socialist leader in nearly fifty years. He is most remembered today for his speech "On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the War's end", in which he publicly apologised for Japan's past colonial rule and aggression. Of the ten living former prime ministers of Japan, he is currently the oldest living prime minister, following the death of Yasuhiro Nakasone on 29 November 2019. Murayama is also the only living former Japanese prime minister who was born in the Taishō era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Frontier Party (Japan)</span> Defunct political party in Japan

The New Frontier Party (NFP) was a big tent political party in Japan founded in December 1994. As a merger of several small parties, the party was ideologically diverse, with its membership ranging from moderate social democrats to liberals and conservatives. The party dissolved in December 1997, with Ichirō Ozawa's faction forming the Liberal Party and other splinters later joining the Democratic Party of Japan in April 1998.

The Recruit scandal was an insider trading and corruption scandal that forced many prominent Japanese politicians to resign in 1988.

The Japan Renewal Party was a Japanese political party that existed in the early 1990s. It was founded in 1993 by 44 members of the Liberal Democratic Party led by Tsutomu Hata and Ichirō Ozawa. It was instrumental in ending the LDP's 38-year dominance of Japanese politics.

The Japan New Party was a Japanese political party that existed briefly from 1992 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 Japanese general election</span> General election in Japan held in 1993

General elections were held in Japan on 18 July 1993 to elect the 511 members of the House of Representatives. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power since 1955, lost their majority in the House. An eight-party coalition government was formed and headed by Morihiro Hosokawa, the leader of the Japan New Party (JNP). The election result was profoundly important to Japan's domestic and foreign affairs.

The Hatomander was an electoral reform proposed in the 1950s by Japanese prime minister Ichirō Hatoyama and his third cabinet. His plan was to replace the SNTV multi-member constituencies for the House of Representatives entirely with First-past-the-post single-member districts. The change would have made it easier for Hatoyama's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to gain a two-thirds majority on its own, enabling him to pursue his plan to change the Japanese Constitution, particularly Article 9. The plan faced strong opposition led by the Japanese Socialist Party (JSP) that accused Hatoyama of wanting to "hatomander" the electoral districts to his needs. An electoral reform bill was presented to the Diet in March 1956, passed the House of Representatives in May 1956, but was not voted on in the House of Councillors in a still ongoing debate at the end of the Diet session. The LDP failed to win a majority in the House of Councillors election in July, and the plan was shelved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murayama Cabinet</span> Cabinet of Japan (1994–1995)

The Murayama Cabinet governed Japan under the leadership of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama from 1994 until a 1995 Cabinet Reshuffle. Murayama was elected prime minister by the National Diet on 29 June 1994 after the threat of a no-confidence vote had brought down the previous minority Hata Cabinet. Murayama's and his cabinet's formal investiture by the Emperor took place one day later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hata Cabinet</span> Cabinet of Japan (1994)

The Hata Cabinet governed Japan for two months from April 28 to June 30, 1994, under the leadership of Tsutomu Hata of the Japan Renewal Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Hashimoto Cabinet</span>

The First Hashimoto Cabinet was formed in January 1996 under the leadership of Ryutaro Hashimoto, following the resignation of Tomiichi Murayama as Prime Minister of Japan and head of the coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake. The smaller Socialist party relinquished the leadership of the government to the LDP, which was the largest party in the Diet and Hashimoto assumed the premiership, becoming the first LDP Prime Minister since August 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obuchi Cabinet</span> Cabinet of the Japanese government,1998–2000

The Obuchi Cabinet governed Japan from July 1998 to April 2000 under the leadership of Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi, who took office after winning the Liberal Democratic Party leadership. Initially a continued LDP single-party government without legislative majority in parliament on its own after the 1998 election, it expanded to become a coalition involving first the Liberal Party and then the New Komeito over the course of its term. The government focused on economic revival, with former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa recalled to the position of Finance Minister, and introduced policies designed to stimulate the economy through tax cuts and public spending increases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Hashimoto Cabinet</span>

The Second Hashimoto Cabinet governed Japan from November 1996 to July 1998 under the leadership of Ryutaro Hashimoto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Mori Cabinet</span>

The Second Mori Cabinet governed Japan between July 2000 and April 2001 as a coalition government under the leadership of Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori of the Liberal Democratic Party. The cabinet was formed after the LDP-NKP-NCP coalition was returned to office with a substantially reduced majority in the June 25 general election, and inaugurated after Mori's re-election by the National Diet on July 4. Unlike his first cabinet, which retained all of former Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi's ministers, Mori introduced several personnel changes, although this was done with reference to LDP factions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Mori Cabinet</span>

The First Mori Cabinet briefly governed Japan between April and July 2000, after the sudden incapacitation of Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi and his replacement by Yoshirō Mori, who had been LDP Secretary General. Mori called his government "the Japan revival cabinet", but made no personnel changes when he took office, pledging to retain Obuchi's ministers, maintain the 3-party coalition and continue his policies to try to revive the economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Koizumi Cabinet</span>

The First Koizumi Cabinet governed Japan from April 2001 until November 2003 under the leadership of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who came to power after winning a surprise victory in the LDP presidential election of 2001. The cabinet continued the LDP-Komeito-NCP coalition and contained a record number of 5 women, including Makiko Tanaka as the first female Foreign Minister. Several ministers from the previous Mori Administration remained in office to ensure the continuity and stability of government. Unusually for an LDP leader, Koizumi chose his cabinet himself and personally asked ministers to join the government, unlike previous practice where party factional leaders often chose government posts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Koizumi Cabinet</span>

The Second Koizumi Cabinet was the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during his second term from November 2003 to September 2005. The cabinet was formed after the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito was re-elected with a slightly reduced majority at the November 2003 general elections. The LDP lost 10 of its pre-election seats to become a minority in the National Diet, but immediately regained a majority by absorbing its coalition partner, the New Conservative Party. Koizumi had reshuffled the cabinet less than two months before the election, and so made no changes when he was re-elected by the Diet on November 19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Koizumi Cabinet</span>

The Third Koizumi Cabinet governed Japan for the final year of Junichiro Koizumi's term as prime minister, from September 2005 to September 2006, following the landslide victory of his coalition in the "postal election" of 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadao Yamahana</span> Japanese politician (1936–1999)

Sadao Yamahana was Japanese politician who served as chairman of the Japan Socialist Party from January 1993 to September 1993.

References

  1. McCarthy, Terry (9 August 1993). "Hosokawa plays safe with cabinet". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Shiratori, Rei (1995). "Description of Japanese Politics 1994". European Journal of Political Research. 28. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  3. "Fragile position: Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa". Chicago Tribune. 3 February 1994. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. SANGER, DAVID E. (8 April 1994). "JAPANESE PREMIER SAYS HE WILL QUIT AS SCANDAL GROWS". New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. WATANABE, TERESA (9 April 1994). "Premier's Abrupt Resignation Leaves Japan in Shock". LA Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. Shiratori, Rei (1995). "Description of Japanese Politics 1994". European Journal of Political Research. 28. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  7. Banks, Arthur S.; Day, Alan J.; Muller, Thomas C. Political Handbook of the World 1998. p. 475.
  8. McCarthy, Terry (4 December 1993). "Japan dogged by military taboo: Government minister and political reform laws fall foul of post-war constitution". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)