Yasuhiro Nakasone (中曽根 康弘,Nakasone Yasuhiro; 27 May 1918 – 29 November 2019) was a Japanese politician who served asPrime Minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through theprivatization of state-owned companies and pursuing a hawkish and pro-United States foreign policy.
Born inGunma Prefecture, Nakasone graduated fromTokyo Imperial University and served in the imperial navy during the Pacific War. After the war, he entered theNational Diet in 1947 and rose through the ranks of theLiberal Democratic Party, serving as chief of theDefense Agency from 1970 to 1971 underEisaku Satō, international trade and industry minister from 1972 to 1974 underKakuei Tanaka, and administration minister from 1980 to 1982 underZenkō Suzuki. As prime minister, he passed large defense budgets and controversially visited theYasukuni Shrine. A conservative contemporary of U.S. presidentRonald Reagan, Nakasone privatized theJapanese National Railways and telephone systems, and favored closer ties with the U.S., once calling Japan an "unsinkable aircraft carrier". After leaving office in 1987, he was implicated in theRecruit scandal, causing the influence of his LDP faction to wane before he retired from the Diet in 2004.
Nakasone was born inTakasaki inGunma, a prefecture northwest of Tokyo, on 27 May 1918.[1][2] He was the second son of Nakasone Matsugoro II, a lumber dealer, and Nakamura Yuku. He had five siblings: an elder brother named Kichitaro, an elder sister named Shoko, a younger brother named Ryosuke and another younger brother and younger sister who both died in childhood.[3] The Nakasone family had been of thesamurai class during theEdo period, and claimed direct descent from theMinamoto clan through the famousMinamoto no Yoshimitsu and through his sonMinamoto no Yoshikiyo (d. 1149). According to family records, Tsunayoshi (k. 1417), a vassal of theTakeda clan and a tenth-generation descendant of Yoshikiyo, took the name of Nakasone Juro and was killed at the Battle of Sagamigawa.[4] In about 1590, the samurai Nakasone Sōemon Mitsunaga settled in the town ofSatomimura [ja] inKōzuke Province. His descendants became silk merchants and pawnbrokers. Nakasone's father, originally born Nakasone Kanichi, settled in Takasaki in 1912 and established a timber business and lumberyard which had success as a result of the post-WWI building boom.[4]
Nakasone described his early childhood and youth as a happy one, and himself as a "quiet, easy-going child" nicknamed "Yat-chan". He attended a local primary school in Takasaki and was a poor student until the fourth grade, after which he excelled and was at the top of his class. He entered ShizuokaHigher School in 1935, where he excelled in history and literature, and learned to speak fluentFrench.[5]
In the autumn of 1938, Nakasone entered theFaculty of Law of theImperial University of Tokyo. During his time at the university, he was strongly influenced byTeiji Yabe [ja], whose lectures on politics fascinated him. He also developed the belief that personality should not be used as a means to achieve something, which contributed to his strong anti-communist and anti-Nazi views.[6] On the night of 10 March 1940, he received a phone call from his father telling him that his mother in Takasaki had fallen seriously ill. By the time he arrived in Takasaki on the first train the next morning, she had already passed away. The fact that his mother had not told him about her illness, so as not to distract him from his studies, became an impetus for him to work harder. He passed the high-level bureaucrat recruitment examination. He began working for theHome Ministry, which was as prestigious as theMinistry of Finance due to its extensive authority.[6]
Nakasone applied for the Navy's programme that allowed graduates from elite universities to serve as officers for two years without rising through the ranks. After completing a training period at the Navy Paymaster's School inTsukiji, he became a lieutenant.[2] With 2,000 staff under his command, ranging from young doctors and scholars to elderly ex-convicts, Nakasone departed the naval base at Kure on 29 November 1941 on a mission to build airfields. Aboard his ship, he struggled to issue effective orders to his staff and ultimately selected an ex-yakuza with eight convictions as his assistant to relay his commands. In January 1942, he arrived atBalikpapan inDutch East Indies, where his unit was raided by a retreating Dutch cruiser.[7][8] On the beach, he cremated the first 23 casualties among his staff, including his ex-yakuza assistant. This experience left a deep and lasting impression, which profoundly influenced his political beliefs.[9] There, he realized that the construction of the airfield had been stalled due to the prevalence of sexual crimes, gambling, and other problems among his men, so he gatheredcomfort women and organized a brothel called "comfort station" as a solution.[7] He managed to procure four Indonesian women, and a Navy report praised him for having “mitigated the mood of his troops".[7] Nakasone married Tsutako Kobayashi, the daughter of geologist Giichiro Kobayashi, on 11 February 1945. A fortnight later, he lost his younger brother, Ryosuke, in an air accident.[10]
Upon returning to Tokyo after the end of the Second World War, he resumed his suspended career at the Home Ministry. He observed the growing prevalence of communism among the Japanese people, but theCivil Service was largely powerless to address it under the absolute authority of theAllied Occupation Forces. While supervising the police force inKagawa Prefecture, he decided to abandon his bureaucratic career and stand in the upcoming general election.[11] He later wrote of his return to Tokyo in August 1945 after Japan's surrender: "I stood vacantly amid the ruins of Tokyo, after discarding my officer's short sword and removing the epaulettes of my uniform. As I looked around me, I swore to resurrect my homeland from the ashes of defeat".[12]
Nakasone's first cabinet role was as Minister of Science and Technology in thereshuffled Second Kishi Cabinet in 1959. He can be seen at the centre of the fourth row from the front.
He stand in the1949 general election as aDemocratic Party candidate. He campaigned on a nationalist platform, arguing for an enlargedSelf-Defence Force, to amendArticle 9 of the Japanese Constitution (which outlawed war as a means to settling international disputes), and to revive Japanese patriotism, especially in reverence for the Emperor.[13] He entered theJapanese Diet as a member of theHouse of Representatives for the Democratic Party.[14] "As a freshman lawmaker in 1951, he delivered a 28-page letter toGeneral MacArthur criticising the occupation, a brazen move. The General angrily threw the letter in [the] bin, Yasuhiro was later told. This stand established [Yasuhiro Nakasone's] credentials as aright-wing politician."[2] He gained brief notoriety in 1952 for blaming EmperorHirohito for Japan's defeat in the war.[15] In 1955, at Nakasone's urging, the government granted the equivalent of $14,000,000 to the Agency for Industrial Science and Technology to beginnuclear power research.[16] Nakasone rose through theLDP's ranks, becoming Minister of Science in 1959 under the government ofNobusuke Kishi, then Minister of Transport in 1967,Director General of the Japan Defense Agency from 1970 to 1971,Minister of International Trade and Industry in 1972 and Minister of Administration in 1981.
As the head of the Self-Defence Force, Nakasone argued for an increase in defence spending from less than 1% GNP to 3% of GNP. He was also in favour of Japan having tactical nuclear weapons.[17] He was labelled "the weathervane" in 1972 because he switched his support fromTakeo Fukuda toKakuei Tanaka in the leadership election, ensuring Tanaka's victory. In turn, Tanaka would give his powerful support to Nakasone against Fukuda a decade later in the fight for the premiership.[17]
In 1982, Nakasone became prime minister. Along with Minister of Foreign AffairsShintaro Abe, Nakasone improved Japanese relations with theUSSR and thePeople's Republic of China. Nakasone was best known for his close relationship with U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan, popularly called the "Ron-Yasu" friendship. Nakasone sought a more equal relationship with the United States, and said: "President Reagan is the pitcher and I'm the catcher. When the pitcher gives the signs, I'll co-operate unsparingly, but if he doesn't sometimes follow the catcher's signs, the game can't be won".[18] Nakasone said Japan would be "America's unsinkable aircraft carrier" in the Pacific and that Japan would "keep complete control of the four straits that go through to Japanese islands, to prevent the passage of Soviet submarines".[18] He was attacked by political opponents as a reactionary and a "dangerous militarist". Nakasone responded by saying: "A nation must shed any sense of ignominy and move forward seeking glory". However his attempt to amend Article 9 failed.[18]
In 1984, Nakasone visited China on the twelfth anniversary of Japan's diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic, for which the Chinese government arranged tours of China for 3,000 Japanese youths. On the trip, Nakasone's son was privately accompanied by the daughter ofHu Yaobang, the-thenGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. After the event, Hu was criticised by other members of theChinese Communist Party for the extravagance and warmth of the event.[19] Nakasone also visited PresidentCorazon Aquino in a series of talks between thePhilippines and Japan during a special state visit from 1986 to 1987, to provide good economic and trade relations.[20][21]
In economic affairs, Nakasone's most notable policy was hisprivatisation initiative, which led to the breakup ofJapan National Railways into the modernJapan Railways Group (JR). This led to 80,000 redundancies, unheard of in Japan until that point.[22] He also privatized Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation and Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation to createNippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) andJapan Tobacco Inc. (JT).[23][24] The privatization of the three public corporations reduced the number of employees and significantly improved ordinary income per employee, productivity, and sales.[24] According to a report byJapan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, 20 years after the privatization of NTT and JT and 16 years after the privatization of JR, the number of employees was reduced to 35% for JT, 65% for NTT and 70% for JR. In addition, NTT, JT and JR increased their ordinary income by 8 times, 5.5 times and 3 times, respectively. The productivity of NTT, JT and JR increased 3 times, 2.5 times and 1.5 times, respectively. Sales at NTT and JR increased 2.2 times and 1.2 times, respectively.[24] Nakasone wrote of his economic reforms:
I was carrying out a kind of "improvement" of Japan's structure. For 110 years, ever since theMeiji restoration, Japan had been striving to catch up with America and Britain. In the 1970s we did catch up. Beyond that point the [state's] regulations only stand in the way of the growth of the economy. If government officials have too much power, the private sector of the economy will not grow. We had to change the system.[25]
For the first time in Japan's post-war history, bureaucrats lost their leading role.[25] In 1985, Nakasone appointed the former Governor of theBank of Japan,Haruo Maekawa, to head a commission on Japan's economic future. In 1986, the Commission recommended that Japan should grow not through exports (which were angering Japan's trading partners) but from within. Nakasone advised the Japanese public to purchase foreign imports; in a well-publicised shopping trip, he bought an American tennis racket, an Italian tie and a French shirt. He said: "Japan is like amah-jong player who always wins. Sooner or later the other players will decide that they do not want to play with him".[22] The Japanese public were skeptical but the Commission created a good impression abroad, especially in America, where theUnder Secretary of State for Economic AffairsW. Allen Wallis called it a watershed in Japan's post-war economic policy.[26]
Nakasone also became known for having anationalist attitude and for wanting to stimulate ethnic pride amongst the Japanese.[27] He was an adherent to thenihonjinron theory that claims Japan is incomparably different from the rest of the world.[28] Influenced by Japanese philosopherTetsuro Watsuji, Nakasone believed that Japan's "monsoon culture" inspired a special Japanese compassion, unlike the desert culture of the Middle East that produced theJudeo-Christian "Aneye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". In a speech in 1986, Nakasone said it was Japan's international mission to spread the monsoon culture abroad.[28]
On 15 August 1985, the fortieth anniversary of Japan's surrender, Nakasone and his Cabinet visited theYasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war casualties - including convicted war criminals - were buried, in fullmourning dress. This had great symbolic significance as he visited the shrine in his official capacity, intending to reassert the Japanese government's respect for the spirits of the ancestors killed in battle, including those who died inWorld War II.[29] This turned out however to be a controversial move which was heavily criticised by the Chinese Government (including in its newspaper,People's Daily) and led to angry demonstrations in Beijing.[30] It was also attacked by opponents at home for violating the Constitution's separation of religion and state. Nakasone defended his actions by saying, "The true defence of Japan ... becomes possible only through the combination of liberty-loving peoples who are equal to each other ... The manner is desired to be based on self-determination of the race". He also said, "It is considered progressive to criticise pre-war Japan for its faults and defects, but I firmly oppose such a notion. A nation is still a nation whether it wins or loses a war".[31]
Nakasone also sought educational reform, setting up a commission. Its report recommended that "a spirit of patriotism" should be inculcated in children, along with respect for elders and authority. This was not fully implemented and came under attack from theteachers' trade union. The commission also recommended that thenational anthem should be taught and that theRising Sun Flag should also be raised during entrance and graduation ceremonies. History textbooks were also reformed. In 1986, Nakasone dismissed his Education Minister,Masayuki Fujio, after he justified Japan'sannexation of Korea in 1910.[31]
Nakasone aroused controversy in September 1986 when he claimed that Americans were, on average, less intelligent than Japanese because "the US has many immigrants,Puerto Ricans,Mexicans, andBlacks, who bring the average level down" and also said that "in America today there are still many Blacks who can't even read."[31][32] He then clarified his comments, stating that he meant to congratulate the U.S. on its economic success despite the presence of "problematic" minorities.[33]Ainu people living in Japan criticized this comment as ignoring the reality of racial discrimination against them.[34]
In 1987, he was forced to resign after he attempted to introduce avalue added tax to reduce the burden of direct taxes in a policy designed to cut the budget deficit.[22]
Nakasone was replaced byNoboru Takeshita in 1987, and was implicated, along with other LDP lawmakers, in theRecruit scandal that broke the following year.[35][36]
Although he remained in the Diet for another decade and a half, his influence gradually waned. In 2003, despite a fight,[37] Nakasone was not given a place on the LDP's electoral list as the party, by then led byJun'ichirō Koizumi, introduced an age limit of 73 years for candidates in the proportional representation blocks, ending his career as a member of theDiet.[38]
In 2010, "aware of his status as one of the few leaders revered across Japan's suddenly fractured political landscape" and the country's "most revered elder statesman", Nakasone launched a series of interviews to address the direction of prime ministerYukio Hatoyama's government. In a profile at that time, he saw Hatoyama's "inexperienced left-leaning" government as "challenging Japan's postwar political order and its close relationship with the United States". As well, the LDP was "crumbling into disarray" in the wake of Hatoyama's victory. In the profile, Nakasone described the moment "as a national opening on par with the wrenching social and political changes that followed defeat in the [world] war [and] praised the appearance of a strongsecond political party as a step toward true democracy".[2] "Being knocked out of power is a good chance to study in the cram school of public opinion", he was quoted as saying of the LDP. He "faulted Mr. Hatoyama for giving Washington the impression that [Hatoyama] valued ties with China more than he did those with the United States. 'Because of the prime minister’s imprudent remarks, the current situation calls for Japan to make efforts to improve things,' he said. The [Japanese] relationship with the United States is different from that with China, he said, because 'it is built on a security alliance, and not just on the alliance, but on the shared values of liberal democracy, and on its shared ideals.'" And relative to another high-profile current source of friction between Japan and the United States, Nakasone said: "Problems likeOkinawa [and the American military base there] can be solved by talking together."[2]
Nakasone died in Tokyo on 29 November 2019, at the age of 101 years and 186 days.[45][46] Nakasone was the third oldest Prime Minister of Japan by age afterNaruhiko Higashikuni andTomiichi Murayama.[47]
Prime Minister of JapanYoshihide Suga addressed at the official funeral for Yasuhiro Nakasone at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Minato Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis on October 17, 2020
^䝪䞊䜲䝇䜹䜴䝖日本連盟 きじ章受章者 [Recipient of the Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan](PDF).Reinanzaka Scout Club (in Japanese). 23 May 2014. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 11 August 2020.
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