Noboru Takeshita

was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989.

Born in Shimane Prefecture, Takeshita attended Waseda University and was drafted into the army during the Pacific War. He was first elected to the National Diet in 1958, and served as chief cabinet secretary in 1971–1972 and in 1974, and as finance minister from 1979–1980, 1982–1986, and in 1988, during which he signed the Plaza Accord in 1985. In 1987, Takeshita became head of the Liberal Democratic Party and succeeded Yasuhiro Nakasone as prime minister. He inherited the powerful LDP faction of Kakuei Tanaka, and was dubbed the "last shadow shogun" for his behind-the-scenes influence in politics. Takeshita was forced to resign in 1989 after being implicated in the Recruit scandal, but continued to lead the largest LDP faction until his death in 2000. He was the last prime minister to serve during the rule of Emperor Shōwa.

Early life and education

Noboru Takeshita was born on 26 February 1924, in present-day Unnan, Shimane Prefecture, His family had been sake brewers for generations, and Takeshita was the 20th head of the Takeshita brewing family. Both his father Yūzō and his grandfather Gizō had been men of high repute in the region, and Takeshita followed in their footsteps and decided to become a politician when he was in junior high school.

Takeshita attended Waseda University in Tokyo.

He married Masae Takeuchi prior to joining the Imperial Japanese Army to serve as an instructor during World War II. In the period Takeshita was finance minister, the Yen appreciated relative to other international currencies. The rise of the strong Yen (endaka) enhanced Japan's status as a financial powerhouse and led to the Japanese asset price bubble of the 1980s. Tanaka never recovered from his stroke, and by July 1987, Takeshita's faction counted 113 of the 143 Tanaka faction members, while only thirteen supported Takeshita's rival Susumu Nikaido. The Tanaka faction members who moved to Takeshita's faction included Ichiro Ozawa, Tsutomu Hata, Ryutaro Hashimoto, Keizo Obuchi and Kozo Watanabe.

In July 1986, Takeshita left the Cabinet and was named to the key post of secretary general of the party.

Premiership (1987–1989)

In November 1987, Takeshita became president of the LDP and was thus elected Prime Minister of Japan, replacing Yasuhiro Nakasone. Among the highlights of the period in which Takeshita led the government, he acknowledged that Japan had been an aggressor during World War II. This statement was part of a speech in the Japanese Diet. Takeshita also pursued diplomacy in the rest of the world, including tours of several western nations as well as discussions for debt forgiveness to developing countries. Takeshita's initial tenure was relatively comfortable due to steady success in the Japanese economy at the time, but soon his administration began to see some issues. The number of unskilled foreign workers (from areas such as the Philippines and Bangladesh) doubled between 1986 and 1988, and the American government passed into law the Omnibus Trade Bill, which threatened Japanese exports to the country. Moreover, despite Takeshita's diplomatic gestures, trade imbalance with both Western Europe and East Asia continued to widen, leading to friction between the Japanese and foreign governments.

Takeshita was mainly remembered within Japan for implementing the country's first consumption tax, which his government forced through the Diet in 1988 amid public opposition.

Economics

The economic policies of him and his two successors are seen as part of the neoliberal cycle by Post keynesians. He advocated for deregulation.

Later years and death

Although Takeshita was accused of insider trading and corruption, he was never charged and was able to retain his seat in the Diet until shortly before his death.

Takeshita himself died of respiratory failure in June 2000 after over a year in hospital, during which time he was said to have "masterminded" the coalition between the LDP and New Komeito and to have arranged the election of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori from his hospital bed. He had planned to retire from the Diet as of the 2000 general election, which occurred just days after his death. and manga artist Eiki Eiki.

His younger half-brother, Wataru (1946–2021) was a reporter with NHK, who then began working for Noboru as an aide in 1985. Wataru entered politics in 2000 and served as leader of his old Takeshita faction (now known as the Heisei Kenkyūkai faction) from 2018 until his death in September 2021. Takeshita's two other younger half-siblings were Saburō (born 1948) and Sakae.

Honours

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (20 June 2000; posthumous)
Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan (1991)