Yoshio Sakurauchi (櫻内 義雄, Sakurauchi Yoshio, 8 May 1912 – 5 July 2003) was a Japanese politician and a significant member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was speaker of the House of Representatives of which he was a member for 53 years.
Early life and education
Sakurauchi was born in Tokyo on 8 May 1912.[1] He was the son of Yukio Sakurauchi, a lower house member and finance minister.[2] Yoshio Sakurauchi attended the Keio schools from kindergarten through Keio University.[2] His brother, Kimio, served as president (from 1961) and chairman of the board of directors (from 1971) at Chugoku Electric.[3][4]
Career
Sakurauchi began his political career in 1947 when he was first elected to the lower house of Parliament.[5] His constituency included Kashima.[3] He served at the lower house for 18 terms. He was also once elected to the upper house,[5] serving there for 19 months.[2]
Sakurauchi held different ministerial and party posts in his career.[6] In addition, he was leader of the Kano faction in the LDP.[7] This faction was renamed as the Nakasone faction in 1965. His leadership of the faction lasted until 1989.[8] Then the faction was headed by Michio Watanabe.[8]
In addition, Sakurauchi served as foreign minister, agriculture minister, minister of international trade and industry and construction minister.[9]Prime MinisterHayato Ikeda appointed Sakurauchi the minister of international trade and industry on 18 July 1964.[7] Sakurauchi continued to serve in the same post in the next cabinet headed by Prime Minister Eisaku Satō, but he was fired and replaced by Miki Takeo in June 1965.[7] On 28 April 1977, Sakurauchi was appointed construction minister to the government of Takeo Fukuda in a cabinet reshuffle, replacing Shiro Hasegawa in the post.[10] Sakurauchi served as construction minister until 7 December 1978.[10]
Sakurauchi was appointed the secretary general of the LDP on 16 November 1979.[11] During his term, he called for making the Yasukuni Shrine a state shrine.[12] His term lasted until 30 November 1981 when he was named foreign minister. Susumu Nikaido replaced him as the secretary general of the LDP.[11] He was appointed foreign minister in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Zenkō Suzuki on 30 November 1981, replacing Sunao Sonoda in the post.[13][14]
Sakurachi also served as the head of the LDP's chief policy-making body.[9] In addition, he was appointed speaker of Japan's lower house of parliament on 27 February 1990, replacing Hajime Tamura in the post.[9][15] In January 1992, he argued that the United States' economic problems resulted from its work force since the US workers were "too lazy" to compete with Japan, and that nearly a third of its workers "cannot even read."[9][16] Sakurachi's term as speaker ended on 18 June 1993 and Takako Doi became the speaker.[15]
Besides these positions, Sakurauchi was named as the first chairman of the League for Japan-Vietnam Friendship that was established by Japanese and Vietnamese politicians in 1974 to promote mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and Vietnam.[17]
Sakurauchi was not included in the LDP's proportional representation list for the 25 June 2000 general elections, and he stated that he would retire from politics.[18] Eventually, he retired from politics in June 2000.[5]
Death and funeral
Sakurauchi died of respiratory failure at a Tokyo hospital on 5 July 2003.[19] He was 91.[5] His funeral service was held at Ikegami Hommonji Temple in Tokyo's Ota Ward on 8 July 2003.[2]
^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) (in Japanese). Reinanzaka Scout Club. 23 May 2014. Archived from the original(PDF) on 11 August 2020.
^"Padma Awards"(PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. 2016. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
