The Prime Ministers of Postwar Japan, 1945-1995: Their Lives and Times

by Akio Watanabe University of Tokyo (Emer (Editor), Robert D. Eldridge (Translator), Akira Amakawa (Contribution by), Haruhiro Fukui (Contribution by), Fukunaga Fumio (Contribution by)

Overview

This book examines the lives and times of Japan’s postwar prime ministers, covering the period from 1945 to 1995. Written by Japan’s leading scholars, it is the first English-language biographical portrait of these twenty-three individuals who helped lead Japan on its road to recovery, its return to the community of nations, and its subsequent prosperity. Each chapter brings out, to varying degrees, the larger political and historical environment, party dynamics, and personality traits of the prime ministers. In addition, the book discusses not only the policy choices the prime ministers made, but how those decisions were made and what the consequences were for the country, ruling party, and the individual who made them. The Prime Ministers of Postwar Japan, 1945–1995 fills a large void in the literature on postwar Japan by introducing the actual people who made the decisions during these important years, rather than simply discussing the theories and institutions in which those decisions were made.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498510011
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	04/29/2016
Pages:	404
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

AkioWatanabe is vice chairman of the Research Institute for Peace and Security.

Robert D. Eldridge is former associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history at 'saka University.

Table of Contents

Supervising Translator’s Preface
Preface to the English Edition
Preface to the Original Japanese Version
Chapter 1: Higashikuni Naruhiko: A Liberalist in the Imperial Family, Hatano Sumio
Chapter 2: Shidehara Kijūrō: His “Final Public Duty” and the Draft Constitution, Amakawa Akira
Chapter 3: Yoshida Shigeru: A Master of Situational Thinking, Watanabe Akio
Chapter 4: Katayama Tetsu: The First Batter under the New Constitution, Fumio Fukunaga
Chapter 5: Ashida Hitoshi: The Intellectual and Cultured Man as Politician, Masuda Hiroshi
Chapter 6: Hatoyama Ichirō: A Tenacious Attachment to the Restoration of Relations with the Soviet Union and Constitutional Revision, Yamamuro Kentoku
Chapter 7: Ishibashi Tanzan: A Coherent Liberal Thinker, Inoki Takenori
Chapter 8: Kishi Nobusuke: Frustrated Ambition, Kitaoka Shinichi
Chapter 9: Ikeda Hayato: The Man Who Created “The Economic Era,” Nakamura Takafusa
Chapter 10: Satō Eisaku: The Truth about “The Politics of Waiting,” Kōsaka Masataka
Chapter 11: Tanaka Kakuei: The Arrival of Development Politics, Mikuriya Takashi
Chapter 12: Miki Takeo: Politics of Conviction and Public Opinion, Shinkawa Toshimitsu
Chapter 13: Fukuda Takeo: Winner in Policy, Loser in Politics, Iokibe Makoto
Chapter 14: Ōhira Masayoshi: The One Who Raised the Issue of Deficit Politics, Muramatsu Michio
Chapter 15: Suzuki Zenkō: The Politician Sought by Power, Tanaka Zenichirō
Chapter 16: Nakasone Yasuhiro: The Appearance of a Presidential Prime Minister, Kusano Atsushi
Chapter 17: Takeshita Noburō: A Conservative Politician’s Melancholy, Kume Ikuo
Chapter 18: Uno Sōsuke: A Symbol of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Unsoundness, Kume Ikuo
Chapter 19: Kaifu Toshiki: Fatalistic Weakness, Fukui Haruhiro
Chapter 20: Miyazawa Kiichi: The Last Leader of the Main Line of Conservatives, Igarashi Takeshi
Chapter 21: Hosokawa Morihiro: The Catastrophe of Performance Politics, Iō Jun
Chapter 22: Hata Tsutomu: The Limits of an “Ordinary Person,” Iō Jun
Chapter 23: Murayama Tomiichi: The End of Postwar Democracy, Iō Jun
Appendix 1: List of Japanese Political Parties and Intraparty Groups Appearing in This Volume
Appendix 2: List of Japanese Schools and Organizations Appearing in This Volume

Editorial Reviews

The Prime Ministers of Postwar Japan, 1945–1995 is a collection of short and polished biographies of twenty-three prime ministers of post-World War II Japan written by highly respected leading scholars. This book provides the best guidance for understanding the various difficult choices they faced and for understanding postwar Japanese history.

Ryota Murai

Translated into English from Japanese for the first time, The Prime Ministers of Postwar Japan, 1945–1995 is a must read for all of those who are interested in postwar Japanese history and seek deeper knowledge of the individual leaders who led Japan from the period of the Occupation through Japan’s rapid economic rise, and to the bursting of the economic bubble in the mid-1990s. This book provides insight as to how Japan has transformed itself, particularly in the area of national security, and reveals the crests and troughs of U.S.-Japan relations from Prime Minister Higashikuni to Murayama.

Tosh Minohara