- Yoshirō Mori
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Yoshiro Mori
森 喜朗Prime Minister of Japan In office
5 April 2000 – 26 April 2001Monarch Akihito Preceded by Mikio Aoki (Acting) Succeeded by Junichiro Koizumi Minister of Construction In office
8 August 1995 – 11 January 1996Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama Preceded by Koken Nosaka Succeeded by Eiichi Nakao Minister of International Trade and Industry In office
12 December 1992 – 20 July 1993Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa Preceded by Kozo Watanabe Succeeded by Hiroshi Kumagai Minister of Education In office
27 December 1983 – 1 November 1984Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone Preceded by Mitsuo Setoyama Succeeded by Hikaru Matsunaga Incumbent Assumed office
1996Preceded by New constituency Majority 129,785 (57.63%) Personal details Born 14 July 1937
Nomi, JapanPolitical party Liberal Democratic Party Spouse(s) Chieko Maki Children Yūki Mori
Yoko FujimotoAlma mater Waseda University Website Yoshiro Mori WebSite Yoshirō Mori (森 喜朗 Mori Yoshirō , born 14 July 1937) is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan starting at 5 April 2000 ending 26 April 2001. Described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark,"[1][2] he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally inappropriate actions. He is currently President of the Japan Rugby Football Union as well as the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union.
Contents
Early political life
Yoshiro Mori was born in present-day Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan, as the son of Shigeki and Kaoru Mori, wealthy rice farmers with a history in politics, as both his father and grandfather served as the mayor of Neagari, Ishikawa Prefecture. His mother died when Yoshiro was seven years old.
He studied at the Waseda University in Tokyo, joining the rugby union club. Afterwards he joined the Sankei Shimbun, a conservative newspaper in Japan. In 1962, he left the newspaper and became secretary of a Diet member, and in 1969, he was elected in the lower house at age 32. He was reelected 10 consecutive times. In 1980, he was involved in the Recruit scandal about receiving unlisted shares of Recruit (company) before they were publicly traded, and selling them after they were made public for a profit of approximately 1 million dollars. He was education minister in 1983 and 1984, International trade and industry minister in 1992 and 1993, and construction minister in 1995 and 1996.
Prime minister
Mori's predecessor, Keizō Obuchi, suffered a stroke on 2 April 2000 and was unable to continue this office. Therefore, Mori, who was the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), became the prime minister.
His position in office was marred with a long list of faux-pas, unpopular decisions, PR mistakes and gaffes:
- One of the earliest occurred at Obuchi's funeral, when Mori failed to clap and bow properly before Obuchi's shrine, an important portion of a traditional Japanese funeral rite. The other world leaders present at the funeral, including former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, performed the ritual correctly.[citation needed]
- At a meeting of Shinto leaders in Tokyo, Mori described Japan as "the nation of the deities, with the Emperor at its center." This "divine nation statement" stirred controversy in Japan, as the statement sounded like he was in support of offering the Emperor absolute power, which Emperor Showa explicitly renounced in the Ningen Sengen.[3]
- During the election campaign of 2000, one of his most notable "slips of the tongue" happened in a speech in Niigata on 20 June. When asked about recent newspaper reports that showed that roughly half of the voters still had not decided whom to vote for, he replied “If they still have no interest in the election, it would be all right if they just slept in on that [election] day.” [1]
- Mori's biggest public relations disaster was to continue a round of golf after receiving the news that the US submarine USS Greeneville had accidentally hit and sunk the Japanese fishing ship Ehime Maru during an emergency surface drill on 9 February 2001, resulting in 9 dead students and teachers.[4]
- Mori promised then newly elected ROC President Chen Shui-bian that he would celebrate if Chen won the 2000 presidential elections. This promise was not fulfilled until late 2003, at the time Chen was running for re-election to a second term.[citation needed]
Towards the end of his term, his approval rating dropped to single digits. He was replaced by Junichiro Koizumi on 26 April 2001.
Mori remains a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Second District of Ishikawa. He is married to Chieko (born: Chieko Maki), a fellow Waseda University student, and he has a son, Yūki Mori, and a daughter, Yoko Fujimoto. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2004.
Cabinets
Mori appointed three cabinets. The third cabinet is officially referred to as a continuation of the second cabinet, as the changes came amid a major administrative realignment in January 2001 that eliminated several cabinet positions and renamed several key ministries.
Cabinets of Yoshiro Mori First Cabinet
(April 2000)Second Cabinet
(July 2000)Second Cabinet, Realigned
(Jan. 2001)Chief Cabinet Secretary and Okinawa Development Mikio Aoki Yasuo Fukuda Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda Administrative Reform, Okinawa and Northern Territories Ryutaro Hashimoto Foreign Affairs Yōhei Kōno Yōhei Kōno Yōhei Kōno Justice Hideo Usui Okiharu Yasuoka Masahiko Komura Finance Kiichi Miyazawa Kiichi Miyazawa Kiichi Miyazawa Education Hirofumi Nakasone Tadamori Oshima Nobutaka Machimura Health and Welfare Yuya Niwa Yūji Tsushima Health, Labor and Welfare Chikara Sakaguchi Labor Takamori Makino Yoshio Yoshikawa Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tokuichiro Tamazawa Yoichi Tani Yoshio Yatsu International Trade and Industry Takashi Fukaya Takeo Hiranuma Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma Transport Toshihiro Nikai Hajime Morita Land, Infrastructure and Transport Chikage Oogi Construction Masaaki Nakayama Chikage Oogi Home Affairs Kosuke Hori Mamoru Nishida Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Toranosuke Katayama Posts and Telecommunications Eita Yashiro Kozo Hirabayashi Management and Coordination Agency Kunihiro Tsuzuki Kunihiro Tsuzuki Japan Defense Agency Tsutomu Kawara Kazuo Torashima Toshitsugu Saito Economic Planning Agency Taichi Sakaiya Taichi Sakaiya Economic and Fiscal Policy Tarō Asō Environment Kayoko Shimizu Yoriko Kawaguchi Yoriko Kawaguchi Financial Reconstruction Sadakazu Tanigaki Hideyuki Aizawa Financial Affairs Hakuo Yanagisawa National Public Safety Commission Bunmei Ibuki Council for Science and Technology Policy Takashi Sasagawa Japanese Rugby
Mori played the game of rugby union at Waseda University and developed a passion for it there, though he was never a high-level player. In June 2005, he became President of the Japan Rugby Football Union and it had been hoped his clout would help secure the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup for Japan, but instead the event was awarded to New Zealand in late November 2005.[5] This led former PM Yoshiro Mori to accuse the Commonwealth countries of "passing the ball around their friends."[6] (However at a special IRB meeting held in Dublin on 28 July 2009, Japan was announced as the host for the 2019 RWC.[7])
Once when he discussed his relationship with the other parties in the ruling coalition, he stated, "In rugby, one person doesn't become a star, one person plays for all, and all play for one."[8]
Gallery
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Mori at the grave of his father in Irkutsk
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Mori with Vladimir Putin on 25 March 2001.
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Mori with George W. Bush
References
- Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007, ISBN 9781845962555)
- ^ Profile: Yoshiro Mori BBC News, (2000-11-20, 08:34 GMT
- ^ 噂の眞相特別取材班「『サメの脳ミソ』と『ノミの心臓』を持つ森喜朗 "総理失格" の人間性の証明」 (『噂の眞相』2000年6月号、pp.24–31)
- ^ Japanese PM sparks holy row BBC News, (2000-05-16, 08:40 GMT
- ^ Ehime Maru Incident Report IncidentNews.gov, (9 February 2001
- ^ Richards, p276
- ^ Richards, p277
- ^ "England will host 2015 World Cup". BBC. 28 July 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8170488.stm. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ Famous Ruggers by Wes Clark and others, retrieved 19 August 2009
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
Political offices Preceded by
Mikio Aoki
ActingPrime Minister of Japan
2000–2001Succeeded by
Junichiro KoizumiDiplomatic posts Preceded by
Mikio AokiChair of the G8
2000Succeeded by
Giuliano AmatoPrime Ministers of Japan (List) H. Itō · Kuroda · Sanjō · Yamagata · Matsukata · H. Itō · Kuroda · Matsukata · H. Itō · Ōkuma · Yamagata · H. Itō · Saionji · Katsura · Saionji · Katsura · Saionji · Katsura · Yamamoto · Ōkuma · Terauchi · Hara · Uchida · Takahashi · To. Katō · Uchida · Yamamoto · Kiyoura · Ta. Katō · Wakatsuki · G. Tanaka · Hamaguchi · Shidehara · Hamaguchi · Wakatsuki · Inukai · Takahashi · Saitō · Okada · Gotō · Okada · Hirota · Hayashi · Konoe · Hiranuma · N. Abe · Yonai · Konoe · Tōjō · Koiso · K. Suzuki · Higashikuni · Shidehara · Yoshida · Katayama · Ashida · Yoshida · I. Hatoyama · Ishibashi · Kishi · Ikeda · Satō · K. Tanaka · Miki · T. Fukuda · Ōhira · M. Itō · Z. Suzuki · Nakasone · Takeshita · Uno · Kaifu · Miyazawa · Hosokawa · Hata · Murayama · Hashimoto · Obuchi · Aoki · Mori · Koizumi · S. Abe · Y. Fukuda · Aso · Y. Hatoyama · Kan · Noda
Italics denote acting Prime MinistersCategories:- 1937 births
- Japanese Buddhists
- Living people
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan
- People from Ishikawa Prefecture
- Japanese Shintoists
- Prime Ministers of Japan
- Waseda University alumni
- Japanese rugby union players
- Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
- Légion d'honneur recipients
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