Ichirō Hatoyama | |
|---|---|
鳩山 一郎 | |
 Official portrait, 1954 | |
| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 10 December 1954 – 23 December 1956 | |
| Monarch | Hirohito |
| Deputy | Mamoru Shigemitsu |
| Preceded by | Shigeru Yoshida |
| Succeeded by | Tanzan Ishibashi |
| President of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
| In office 5 April 1956 – 14 December 1956 | |
| Secretary-General | Nobusuke Kishi |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Tanzan Ishibashi |
| Minister of Education | |
| In office 13 December 1931 – 3 March 1934 | |
| Prime Minister | Tsuyoshi Inukai Saitō Makoto |
| Preceded by | Ryūzō Tanaka |
| Succeeded by | Saitō Makoto (acting) Genji Matsuda |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary | |
| In office 20 April 1927 – 2 July 1929 | |
| Prime Minister | Giichi Tanaka |
| Preceded by | Seiji Tsukamoto |
| Succeeded by | Fujiya Suzuki |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 2 October 1952 – 7 March 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Mitsuji Ide |
| Succeeded by | Seiichirō Yasui |
| Constituency | Tokyo 1st |
| In office 25 March 1915 – 7 May 1946 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency | Tokyo City (1915–1920) Tokyo 10th (1920–1928) Tokyo 2nd (1928–1946) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1883-01-01)1 January 1883 |
| Died | 7 March 1959(1959-03-07) (aged 76) Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan |
| Party | LDP (1955–1959) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6, includingIichirō |
| Parent(s) | Kazuo Hatoyama Haruko Taga |
| Relatives | Hatoyama family |
| Alma mater | Tokyo Imperial University |
| Signature |  |
Ichirō Hatoyama (鳩山 一郎,Hatoyama Ichirō; 1 January 1883 – 7 March 1959) was a Japanese politician who served asprime minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. During his tenure he oversaw the formation of theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP) and restored official relations with theSoviet Union.
Hatoyama was born in Tokyo as the eldest son of politicianKazuo Hatoyama. After graduating fromTokyo Imperial University, he practiced law before entering political life, and was first elected to the Diet in1915 as a member of theRikken Seiyūkai. He served as chief cabinet secretary underGiichi Tanaka from 1927 to 1929, and minister of education underTsuyoshi Inukai andMakoto Saitō from 1931 to 1934. He was one of the leading members of the Seiyukai prior to its dissolution in 1940, and during thePacific War opposed the cabinet ofHideki Tōjō. In 1945, Hatoyama founded theLiberal Party, which became the largest party in the first post-war election, but he waspurged by theAmerican occupation authorities before taking office, and handed the post toShigeru Yoshida. Hatoyama was de-purged in 1951, but his conflict with Yoshida over the leadership split the Liberal Party in two. Hatoyama then founded theDemocratic Party in 1954.
In 1954, Hatoyama ousted Yoshida and finally succeeded him as prime minister. In 1955, his Democratic Party and theLiberal Party, formerly led by Yoshida, merged to form the Liberal Democratic Party, which has dominated Japanese politics ever since. During his tenure, Hatoyama attempted to push through an electoral reform to ensure a two-party system in order to revise the constitution's pacifistArticle 9, but failed in both efforts. In 1956, he restoreddiplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, ending the formal state of war which had existed since 1945, and secured Japan's entry into theUnited Nations before he resigned.
Hatoyama is the grandfather ofYukio Hatoyama, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2010.
Ichirō Hatoyama was born inTokyo, onNew Year's Day of 1883, the eldest son ofKazuo Hatoyama andHaruko Hatoyama.His name indicated his status as the first born son in Japanese. Ichirō had an elder half-sister, Kazuko, and a younger brotherHideo, who became a noted jurist.[1]
Their family beensamurai sworn to theMiura clan before theMeiji Restoration. Kazuo Hatoyama was among a group of students selected by the government to study in America in 1875. He graduated fromColumbia University andYale Law School. After returning to Japan, he became a lawyer, educator and politician. Haruko was an educator who helped foundKyoritsu Women's Vocational School in 1886.[2]
Ichirō Hatoyama received much of his early education from his mother. From early on Hatoyama was encouraged to pursue a political career and he readily accepted this ambition. His father was elected to theHouse of Representatives in 1894 and was itsSpeaker from 1896 to 1897.[2]
Hatoyama attendedFirst Higher School and afterwards studied law atTokyo Imperial University. After graduating in 1907 he began working in his father's law office. The following year he marriedKaoru, the daughter of Sakae Terada, a judge who later became a politician and an executive of theGen'yōsha. Her mother was a niece of Haruko Hatoyama.[2]
After his father died in 1911, Hatoyama was elected in the 1912 by-election for his father's seat in theTokyo City Council. In the1915 House of Representatives election, Hatoyama was elected from Tokyo district and belonged to theRikken Seiyukai. A rival in the same constituency wasBukichi Miki, who later became a close friend and ally.[2]
Property inherited from his father in Otowa,Bunkyō, Tokyo, was destroyed in the1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Hatoyama solicited his friendShinichirō Okada to design a western-style residence in its stead. It was finished the following year and was called the Otowa Palace, and later Hatoyama Hall.[3]
WhenKeigo Kiyoura became prime minister in January 1924 the Rikken Seiyukai split over whether or not to support him.Kisaburo Suzuki, the husband of Hatoyama's elder sister Kazuko, served as Minister of Justice in the new cabinet. Hatoyama participated in theSeiyūhontō organised by pro-Kiyoura forces led byTakejirō Tokonami. In June Kiyoura had to resign in favour ofTakaaki Kato, who had formed a coalition of his ownKenseikai, the Seiyukai and theKakushin Club. Seiyūhontō became the main opposition.[4]
The Seiyukai withdrew from the coalition in July 1925. The Seiyūhontō moved towards coalition with the Kenseikai, but Hatoyama opposed this and left the party with about twenty Diet members in December. They returned to the Seiyukai in February the following year. Hatoyama was close to the new party presidentGiichi Tanaka who made him Secretary-General in March. Hatoyama's brother-in-law Kisaburo Suzuki joined the party around this time.[5]
Tanaka was appointed prime minister in April 1927 and Hatoyama became hisChief Cabinet Secretary. Hatoyama befriendedShigeru Yoshida, who served as vice minister for foreign affairs at the same time. After the cabinet fell in July 1929Minseito presidentOsachi Hamaguchi became prime minister and the Seiyukai fell to the opposition. Tanaka died in September. Kisaburo Suzuki, with the support of Hatoyama, had become the most influential factional leader in the party at this time, but Takejirō Tokonami had rejoined the party to contest the presidency. In order to prevent a split the respected elderTsuyoshi Inukai was selected instead. During his time in the opposition Hatoyama criticised theLondon Naval Treaty.[6][7][8]
When Inukai was made prime minister in December 1931, Hatoyama became Minister of Education. Inukai was assassinated in theMay 15 incident and Suzuki was elected to succeed him as Seiyukai president, but he didn't become prime minister, as thegenrōPrince Saionji preferred to nominate AdmiralMakoto Saito. Hatoyama continued in his post and became involved in a controversy in March 1933 when he had a professor atKyoto Imperial University dismissed for leftist views. In March 1934 he was forced to resign due to alleged corruption in theTeijin Incident, which eventually led to the downfall of the Saito cabinet.[6][9]
When Suzuki was once again passed over as prime minister, this time in favour of AdmiralKeisuke Okada, the Seiyukai moved into the opposition, even expelling members who accepted positions in the new cabinet. By this time Hatoyama had become one of the most powerful men in the Seiyukai as the right-hand man of his brother-in-law.[9]
The Seiyukai took major losses in the1936 general election and this led Suzuki to resign the following year. Hatoyama andChikuhei Nakajima were the leading candidates for the presidency, but to prevent schism a "Presidential Proxy Committee" was formed consisting of Hatoyama, Nakajima,Yonezō Maeda andToshio Shimada. As there was too much antipathy against himself, Hatoyama decided to supportFusanosuke Kuhara as president. But in March 1939 the opponents of Kuhara and Hatoyama had Nakajima declared president in contravention to party rules. As a result, the party was split between a "reformist faction" led Nakajima and an "orthodox faction" led by Kuhara.[7]
Hatoyama opposed the trend towards military government. He led his faction to absent itself in protest against the expulsion ofTakao Saitō for an anti-militarist speech. He resisted the dissolution of political parties and the formation of theImperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA) in 1940.[6]
Hatoyama ran in the1942 general election as a "non-endorsed" candidate, meaning he was not endorsed by the IRAA, but won his election anyway. Shared opposition to theTojo cabinet brought him together with his old rival Bukichi Miki, who also ran and won as a non-endorsed candidate. Like most non-endorsed candidates elected, they were compelled to join theImperial Rule Assistance Political Association when all other parliamentary caucuses were suppressed shortly after the election, but continued to resist from within. In November 1942, Hatoyama's sonIichirō marriedYasuko Ishibashi, the daughter ofBridgestone founderShojiro Ishibashi. Ishibashi became an important financial backer for Hatoyama.[2]
As time went on, the prospects for resisting the cabinet seemed more and more futile. When fellow Diet memberBin Akao was expelled from the Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association for publicly rebuking Tojo in June 1943, Hatoyama and others decided to leave in solidarity. This practically made further political activities impossible, so Hatoyama decided to retire to his summer house inKaruizawa. Before leaving Tokyo he made a pledge with Miki that they would cooperate to rebuild Japan after the war. In Karuizawa he devoted himself to farming and study, but he also took part in plans surrounding Shigeru Yoshida andFumimaro Konoe for an early peace with Britain and the United States.[2][10][11]
Immediately after theJapanese surrender was announced on 15 August 1945 Hatoyama's old associates, in particularHitoshi Ashida, began work for the creation a new political party for the post-war era. They convinced Hatoyama to return to Tokyo and become their leader. The Hatoyama Hall was damaged from air raids and Hatoyama lodged at Shojiro Ishibashi's Tokyo residence. Besides his old comrades from the Seiyukai he brought Bukichi Miki into the party. He also recruited liberal figures who had been aloof from party politics such as the journalistTanzan Ishibashi.[12]
Shojiro Ishibashi was a significant sponsor for the new party and his house would serve as a de facto office in the early days. Another substantial part of the funds came fromYoshio Kodama, who was then a cabinet advisor.[13]
TheLiberal Party was officially launched in November 1945 with Hatoyama as its president. Ashida was expected to become secretary-general, but he had been appointed health minister in theShidehara cabinet formed the previous month. The post instead went toIchirō Kōno. Miki became chairman of the General Council.[12][13]
In thefirst post-war election in April 1946, the Liberal Party became the largest party with 141 out of 468 seats. Hatoyama was expected to become prime minister, but while in the middle of putting together his cabinet, he waspurged from public office by theoccupation authority on 4 May. The purge order branded him a "ultranationalist and militarist" for his participation in pre-war cabinets.[14][15]
Hatoyama was dumbfounded by the event, but he soon approached his old friend Shigeru Yoshida, who was foreign minister at the time, to take his place as prime minister and president of the Liberal Party. Yoshida initially demurred andKazuo Kojima [ja] andTsuneo Matsudaira were also considered as candidates, but Yoshida was ultimately persuaded to accept.[13][15][16]
Yoshida was appointed prime minister on 22 May, and he would formally be elected party president at the convention in August. Hatoyama once again retired to Karuizawa. Another round of purges in June removed both Kōno and Miki from office.[15]
As part of the so-called "Reverse Course," in American policy towards Japan, brought about by the increasing confrontation between the United States and the Communist bloc, many people were released from the purge, including Miki and Kono. Hatoyama himself was depurged in August 1951.[17][18]
At that time of Hatoyama's depurging his relationship with Yoshida had soured. Hatoyama believed Yoshida was involved in delaying his depurging. Furthermore, Yoshida had become a well established politician in his own right, and had no intention to step down in favour in Hatoyama as some people expected.[19] In June, before his depurging, Hatoyama and Miki had considered creating a new party to challenge Yoshida, but the plan was scrapped after Hatoyama suffered a stroke.[20] Hatoyama and his faction ultimately joined Yoshida'sLiberal Party.
In November 1954, Hatoyama formed theJapan Democratic Party by merging the non-mainstream factions of the Liberal Party with theKaishintō underMamoru Shigemitsu, with Hatoyama as president, Shigemitsu as vice president,Nobusuke Kishi as secretary general and Miki as general council chairman.[21] Hatoyama cooperated with the socialists to oust Yoshida the following month, and Hatoyama was nominated to succeed him.[22]
 Hatoyama in 1953 | |
| Premiership of Ichirō Hatoyama 10 December 1954 – 23 December 1956 | |
| Monarch | Emperor Shōwa |
|---|---|
| Cabinet | |
| Party |
|
| Election | 1955 |
| Seat | Naikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei |
| Constituency | Tokyo 1st |
 Emblem of the Government of Japan | |
Hatoyama was appointed prime minister in December 1954. His cabinet included Shigemitsu as deputy prime minister and foreign minister;Hisato Ichimada as finance minister; Tanzan Ishibashi as trade minister; and Ichiro Kono as agriculture minister.[22]
Hatoyama favored pardons for some of the Class A war criminals who had been sentenced to life imprisonment by theTokyo Trial.[23] He hoped to revise theConstitution to removeArticle 9 and eventually remilitarize Japan.[24] To this end, in 1956 he established a "Constitutional Research Commission" to prepare for the process of constitutional revision.[25]
That same year, Hatoyama attempted to implement his infamous "Hatomander" (ハトマンダー,hatomandā, a portmanteau of Hatoyama andGerrymander), an attempt to replace Japan'sSNTV multi-member constituencies with American-stylefirst-past-the-post single-member districts, which would have made it easier for the LDP to secure the two-thirds of seats in the Lower House of theNational Diet needed to revise the Constitution. The plan passed the Lower House of the Diet, but was shelved in the face of intense popular opposition before it could pass the Upper House.
In October 1956, he restored diplomatic ties with theSoviet Union, which had been severed since theSoviet declaration of war in 1945, through theSoviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956.[25][26][27] After that he announced his resignation as prime minister and stepped down in December 1956.
Ichirō Hatoyama died in his Hatoyama Hall house, in Tokyo'sBunkyō ward, on 7 March 1959. He was buried in theYanaka Cemetery, in nearbyTaitō ward.
Ichirō was aProtestant Christian. He was Japan's third postwarChristianPrime Minister.[28]
Iichirō Hatoyama, Ichirō's only son, made a career for himself as a civil servant in the Budget Bureau of theFinance Ministry. Iichirō retired after having achieved the rank of administrative Vice Minister. In his second career in politics, he rose to becomeForeign Minister of Japan in 1976–1977.[29]
One of Ichirō's grandsons,Yukio Hatoyama, became prime minister in 2009 as a member of theDemocratic Party of Japan. Another grandsonKunio Hatoyama was a prominent politician in the LDP.
During thepurge against Ichirō (1946–1951), he received an English bookThe Totalitarian State against Man originally written in German by the half-Japanese Austrian CountRichard von Coudenhove-Kalergi from a professor ofWaseda University Kesazō Ichimura (1898–1950) who wanted Ichirō to translate the English book into Japanese.[30] The English book struck a sympathetic chord in Ichirō, and he began to advocate fraternity, also known as yūai (友愛) in Japanese.[31][32]
Hatoyama founded theYūai Kyōkai (orYūai Association[33]) in 1953 to promote his idea of fraternity. His widow and many of his descendants has served as officers in the association.[34][35]
On 29 March 1951, he was initiated as a firstdegree Freemason,[36] and on 26 March 1955, passed as second degree mason, and raised to Master Mason.[37][38]
Ichiro was critical ofcommunism and of militaryplanned economy as his grandsonYukio Hatoyama wrote for an article.[39]
From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia
今朝蔵は、「この本の翻訳は鳩山一郎さんにして貰おう。 (中略) 鳩山さんは往年の優等生だから、この位の翻訳軽く出来るよ。歴代の総理大臣でこれだけの本を出版した人なんて誰もいない。その日の為にもこの翻訳をしておいて貰いたいんだ」などと一寸おしゃべりして雲場ヶ池の鳩山家の別荘に自転車で出かけて行ったそうである。
クーデンホフカレルギーの著書に共鳴自ら「自由と人生」と題して訳出した
On March 26, 1955, Ichiro Hatoyama and Yahachi Kawai, both Entered Apprentices (First Degree Masons), were made Fellowcrafts (Second Degeree Masons), and raised to Master Masons.
TOKYO, March 26 (AP)—Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama became a master mason today.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Japan 1954–1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Education 1931–1934 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Cabinet Secretary 1927–1929 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of the Liberal Democratic Party 1956 | Succeeded by |
| New political party | President of the Liberal Democratic Party 1955–1956 Served alongside:Taketora Ogata,Bukichi Miki,Banboku Ōno,Tsuruhei Matsuno | Succeeded by Himself |
| President of the Japan Democratic Party 1954–1955 | "Conservative merger" with Liberal Party | |
| President of the Liberal Party 1945–1946 (purged) | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Acting President ofRikken Seiyūkai 1937–1939 Served alongside:Yonezō Maeda,Toshio Shimada,Chikuhei Nakajima | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary General ofRikken Seiyūkai 1926–1927 | Succeeded by |
| House of Representatives (Japan) | ||
| Preceded by Sanzō Nosaka ... | Representative forTokyo's 1st district (multi-member) 1952–1959 Served alongside:Inejirō Asanuma, several others | Succeeded by |
| New title New constituency | Representative forTokyo's 1st district (multi-member) 1946–1946 (purged)/1947 Served alongside:Inejirō Asanuma,Sanzō Nosaka numerous others | District eliminated |
| New title New constituency | Representative forTokyo's 2nd district (multi-member) 1928–1943 (retired)/1946 Served alongside:Isoo Abe,Takeru Inukai, numerous others | District eliminated |
| New title New constituency | Representative forTokyo's 10th district 1920–1928 | District eliminated |
| Preceded by | Representative forTokyo's Tokyo city district (multi-member) 1915–1920 Served alongside:Bukichi Miki,Keikichi Tanomogi, numerous others | District eliminated |
| Empire of Japan (1868–1947) |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (1947–present) |
| ||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
