Hayato Ikeda

Hayato Ikeda , 1899-1965, Japanese political leader, prime minister (1960-64). After serving as an official in the finance ministry (1925-48) he entered politics, gaining election to Japan's house of representatives (1949). During the next decade he held a variety of ministerial posts, including finance minister (1949-52, 1956-57) and international trade and industry minister (1959-60). A moderate, he became prime minister in 1960 when adverse public reaction to the United States-Japan Security Treaty caused Nobusuke Kishi to resign. A member of Japan's dominant Liberal-Democratic party, Ikeda emphasized economic progress during his term in office. He left the prime ministry in late 1964, shortly before he died from cancer.

Ikeda Hayato (b. 3 Dec. 1899, d. 13 Aug. 1965). Prime Minister of Japan 1960–4 Following a career in the pivotal Ministry of Finance as a civil servant, in 1949 he was elected to the House of Representatives and as a member of Yoshida Shigeru's Liberal Party, he entered the Cabinet as Minister of Finance (1949–52). During this time, his role as the planner of Japan's economic recovery was so important that he was the only member of the government to retain his job in Yoshida's Cabinet reshuffle. Ikeda also played a secret and key part in the peace negotiations with the USA, which led to the Peace Treaty of San Francisco in 1951. On succeeding Kishi Nobusuke as Prime Minister, Ikeda contrasted the confrontational policies of his predecessor with his low-key but highly popular ‘income doubling plan’, which promoted the expansion of the Japanese economy. Often perceived by his contemporaries as a dour bureaucrat whose elite background gave him little understanding of the needs of ordinary Japanese, Ikeda is now remembered as one of the chief architects of Japan's rapid economic growth of the postwar era.

Ikeda Hayato (1899–1965) Japanese statesman. He entered the government tax service and rose by 1945 to become head of the National Tax Bureau. Having served as Vice-Minister of Finance in the YOSHIDA SHIGERA cabinet of 1947, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1949 and became successively Minister of Finance and Minister of International Trade. Serving in a succession of high ministerial posts throughout the 1950s, Ikeda became Prime Minister (1960–64) and devoted himself to sustaining Japanese economic growth through a broadening of international trading connections.