was the patriarchal head of the prominent Japanese Hatoyama political family which has been called "Japan's

Kennedy family The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy beca ...

Early life and education

Hatoyama was born to a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

family of the Katsuyama clan in present-day Minato,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. He graduated from the

Tokyo Kaisei School Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

in 1875. He was selected for a government-sponsored study abroad program and attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(B.L., 1877) and Yale University Law School (M.L., 1878; D.C.L., 1880).

Career

When he returned to Tokyo in 1880, Hatoyama opened a law practice, while simultaneously lecturing at the University of Tokyo. He thereafter joined the ''

Rikken Kaishintō The was a political party in Empire of Japan. It was also known as simply the Kaishintō. The Kaishintō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu on 16 April 1882, with the assistance of Yano Ryūsuke, Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio. It received fin ...

'' political party founded by

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, and ...

and became active in politics. In 1890, at Okuma's urging, he was appointed president of the Tokyo Semmon Gakko, which shortly thereafter became

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. He headed this institution until 1907, although his title was largely honorary in nature. In 1901, he was invited to Yale for its 200th anniversary celebration, and awarded an honorary doctorate in law. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1892 general election and was re-elected eight times thereafter. He became House Speaker in 1896. However, a rift developed between Hatoyama and Okuma. Although Hatoyama angled to become foreign minister in Okuma's first cabinet, he was passed over for the post and only served as Vice Minister in 1898. In April 1907, he was removed from his post at Waseda and demoted to board member status. He left the ''Rikken Kaishinto'' in January 1908 to join the rival Rikken Seiyukai party. He was elected to the Tokyo Municipal Assembly in 1908. In 1910, he was elected President of the Tokyo Bar Association.

Family

His wife,

Haruko Hatoyama was a Japanese educator of the Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa periods, and the matriarchal head of the prominent Japanese Hatoyama political family which has been called "Japan's Kennedy family." She was a co-founder of what is today Kyoritsu Wome ...

, was a co-founder of what is known today as Kyoritsu Women's University. His son is former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Ichirō Hatoyama was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. A conservative, Hatoyama helped oversee the 1955 merger of the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party to create the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), of which Hatoy ...

, who founded and was the first president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)."Japan on the brink of a new era"
''

Asia Times ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kong-based English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

'', August 29, 2009. His grandson was former Foreign Minister

Iichirō Hatoyama was a Japanese politician and diplomat. Between 1976 and 1977, he served as Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda. He was the son and father of two former Prime Ministers, Ichirō At end of the war, Iichirō was one of 6.6 million ...

. His younger great-grandson

Kunio Hatoyama was a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications under Prime Ministers Shinzō Abe and Yasuo Fukuda until 12 June 2009. Biography Kunio Hatoyama was born in Tokyo in 1948. He was a son of Yasuko Hato ...

served as

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...

under Prime Minister

Taro Aso Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afric ...

until June 12, 2009. His older great-grandson

Yukio Hatoyama is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoy ...

is the leader of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...

(DPJ) and represents the 9th district of Hokkaidō in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Yukio became

on September 16, 2009, following a win by the opposition coalition in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

. His son-in-law was Suzuki Kisaburō, a judge, prosecutor, procurator and Minister of Justice and Home Minister.

Family tree

Residence

Hatoyama and his family resided in the Otowa neighborhood of Bunkyo, Tokyo in 1891. Following the Great Kanto Earthquake, his son Ichiro commissioned a new Western-style mansion on the site which is now known as

Hatoyama Hall , also known as the , is a Western-style residence in Bunkyō, Tokyo commissioned in 1924 by Ichirō Hatoyama, and it was here that he helped form the present Liberal Democratic Party. The house and gardens are in the process of evolving into a ...

(鳩山会館 ''Hatoyama Kaikan'').

Notes

References

* Itoh, Mayumi (2003)
''The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership through the Generations''
New York: Palgrave Macmillan. , . . {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatoyama, Kazuo 1856 births 1911 deaths University of Tokyo alumni Columbia Law School alumni Yale Law School alumni Kazuo 20th-century Japanese lawyers Japanese diplomats Japanese educators Speakers of the House of Representatives (Japan) Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Waseda University 19th-century Japanese lawyers Parents of prime ministers of Japan