Kakuei Tanaka

Kakuei Tanaka , 1918-93, Japanese political leader and prime minister (1972-74). Born to a poor rural family, he moved to Tokyo at the age of 15 and by 1937 had established his own construction firm. He prospered greatly during World War II and gained election to the lower house of the Diet, where he served from 1947. A member of Japan's dominant Liberal Democratic party , he was twice (1965-66, 1968-71) its secretary-general. Tanaka was also minister of finance (1962-65) and minister of international trade and industry (1971-72) before succeeding Eisaku Sato as prime minister. He was more colorful and somewhat more reformist than most of postwar Japan's other Liberal Democratic prime ministers. Shortly after his election he journeyed to the People's Republic of China, where he signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Japan and the Beijing regime. Tanaka was forced to resign (1974) because of alleged financial malfeasance. He was later tried for accepting over $2 million in bribes from Lockheed Corp. and until his conviction in 1983 remained in control of the largest faction within the Liberal Democratic party. A stroke in 1985 limited his influence, but he nevertheless remained a powerful figure in Japanese politics until 1987, when Noboru Takeshita won control of the LDP faction Tanaka had led.

Tanaka Kakuei (b. 4 May 1918, d. 16 Dec. 1993). Prime Minister of Japan 1972–4 Tanaka Kakuei, the ‘bulldozer-computer’ of postwar Japanese politics achieved remarkable political success in a society where educational credentials are prized, despite the fact that he left school at the age of 15. From these beginnings Tanaka qualified as an architect and returned from Korea after the war as a rich man. Ironically, for a politician famed for his ability to win elections, his first attempt at entering the Diet in 1946 failed. Nevertheless, he succeeded in being returned for his constituency in Niigata Prefecture the following year. His career was briefly interrupted by a bribery scandal soon after, although he survived this to establish his reputation as a skilled operator within the legislature. In 1957 he took his first Cabinet post as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, after which his ministerial career flourished.

In 1972 Tanaka became Japan's youngest postwar prime minister, but had to resign in December 1974, as the economy faltered and he was facing allegations of illegal political practices. In 1976 Tanaka was at the centre of further accusations over his role in the Lockheed Scandal and these ultimately culminated in a criminal conviction in 1983, which effectively ensured that he would not hold governmental office again. Nevertheless, thanks to a lengthy legal appeal procedure, Tanaka remained a powerful force within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) until the mid-1980s. During this period he controlled the government through his faction which he had built into the most powerful organization within the LDP. In many ways the epitome of a Japanese dynamic postwar politician, he facilitated the normalization of relations with Communist China. He is also remembered for his ambitious but ultimately flawed plans to reorganize the Japanese economy.