- Takeru Inukai
was a Japanese politician and author active in
Showa period Japan . He was the third son ofPrime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi .Biography
Inukai was born in the
Magome district ofTokyo , and graduated fromTokyo Imperial University with a degree inphilosophy . Interested in literature from his student days, he gravitated to the "Shirakaba " ("White Birch") literary society due to its liberal humanistic outlook. His works were influenced byMushanokoji Saneatsu andNagayo Yoshiro , and he became a member of the Japanese chapter of theInternational PEN .He ran for a seat in the lower house of the
Japanese Diet , under the "Rikken Seiyūkai " party in 1930, after his father's death. He was later apress secretary under the firstKonoe Fumimaro administration. He split with the "Rikken Seiyūkai" in 1939. Although arrested under suspicion in the Sorge Spy Incident, he returned to Diet in theJapanese general election, 1942 .As his father, Inukai Tsuyoshi, had always supported friendly relations with
China , he had contacts and good relations with Chinese politicians during the pre-war period. After his father's assassination in theMay 15 Incident , he continued to strive for restoration of good Sino-Japanese relations, and especially provided support to theWang Jingwei government in hopes that it would bring the stability that would allow Japan to withdraw its troops from the China quagmire.After
World War II in 1945, Inukai helped organize the Japan Progressive Party, of which he became chairman. The party merged with the forerunner of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1948. In 1952, under the 4thYoshida Shigeru cabinet, Inukai became Minister of Justice. He continued in the same position in the 5th Yoshida cabinet in 1953. However, in theShipbuilding Scandal of 1954 (under pressure from Prime Minister Yoshida), Inukai refused to approve of the prosecution of ex-Prime MinisterSato Eisaku , who had been indicted for corruption and misuse of public funds. Afterwards, he resigned as Justice Minister in protest.Inukai died in 1960 at the age of 64. His son, Inukai Yasuhiko (b.1928) was president of
Kyodo News .
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