Lyon Summit Information

Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto

Profile

Ryutaro Hashimoto, who became Prime Minister on January 11, 1996, is the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-the largest party in the National Diet. He is an experienced policy expert now serving his eleventh term in the House of Representatives (H.R.) and has held a number of important cabinet posts, including Finance Minister and International Trade and Industry Minister. He is backed by the same three-party coalition-comprising the LDP, Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDPJ), and New Party Sakigake-that supported his predecessor, SDPJ Chairman Tomiichi Murayama.

Hashimoto was born on July 29, 1937, in Tokyo as the eldest son of Ryogo Hashimoto, who served as Minister of Education and Minister of Health and Welfare in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. He graduated from Keio University's Faculty of Law in 1960. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1963, he has served as director of the Social Affairs Division of the LDP Policy Research Council and chairman of the H.R. Standing Committee on Social and Labor Affairs. At the age of 41, he became Ministerof Health and Welfare in the cabinet of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira. Following his father's motto that "statesmanship should be for the weak," he was continuously involved in formulating the country's social welfare policy, and he achieved a great deal in various fields, such as pensions, medical care, and welfare.

Hashimoto also served as chairman of the LDP Research Commission on Public Administration and Finance from 1980 to 1986 during the administrations of Prime Ministers Zenko Suzuki and Yasuhiro Nakasone. He directed the government's efforts to pursue administrative reform and the restoration of public finance, the main political issues at that time.

In 1986 Hashimoto became Minister of Transport in the third Nakasone cabinet and successfully accomplished the privatization of the Japanese National Railways and its division into six regional companies, which was the centerpiece of administrative reform. These achievements, undertaken while serving in a post that was the focus of administrative reform, won Hashimoto his peers' confidence in his political caliber and gave him deep insights into the administrative branch. From 1987 to 1989 Hashimoto held several important party positions, including that of Secretary General of the LDP. As Secretary General, number two in the party after the party President-who in those years concurrently served as Prime Minister-he was in charge of all facets of the party's affairs.

In 1989 Hashimoto was appointed Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and devoted himself to realizing tax reform. During the Gulf War, he was instrumental in formulating Japan's contribution to the multinational forces, including $13 billion in financial assistance. Beginning in August 1993 he devoted himself to policy-making as chairman of the Policy Research Council of the LDP, which was then in the opposition in the Diet.

In June 1994 he was appointed Minister of International Trade and Industry in the cabinet of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. Since that time, he has exerted strong leadership in implementing a whole range of policies, including those for industry and trade. He strongly urged that the multilateral trade system be strengthened and that the momentum of trade and investment liberalization be maintained. He attended a series of meetings, such as the Naples Summit in July 1994 and the Halifax Summit in July 1995, and took these opportunities to advocate the necessity of regulatory reform as a post-Uruguay Round trade issue of the world economy. In June 1995, he successfully struck a deal on automobiles and auto parts with U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor in Geneva, after negotiations had been on the verge of a breakdown.

Following his participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta in November 1994, Hashimoto led the APEC Osaka Ministerial Meeting in November 1995 to great success as the meeting's joint chairman. Throughout his visits to many countries around the world, he sought to strengthen Japan's ties with them and enhance Japan's contributions to the world economy. He retained his portfolio as Minister of International Trade and Industry when Prime Minister Murayama reshuffled his cabinet in August 1995, and he was elected president of the LDP a month later, succeeding Yohei Kono. In October he assumed the post of Deputy Prime Minister in the Murayama cabinet, and remained a mainstay of the administration.

After Prime Minister Murayama stepped down in January to allow the nation to make "a fresh start" after paving the way to solving various pending issues, Hashimoto was elected Prime Minister with the backing of the same three parties in the ruling coalition.

Hashimoto and his wife Kumiko have two sons, three daughters, and two grandchildren. His hobbies include kendo (Japanese fencing), in which he holds the rank of fifth dan, mountain climbing, and photography.

A Personal Chronology