was a Japanese politician and diplomat. Between 1976 and 1977, he served as

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

under Prime Minister

Takeo Fukuda was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978. Early life and education Fukuda was born in Gunma, capital of the Gunma Prefecture on 14 January 1905. He hailed from a former samurai family and his father was mayor ...

. He was the son and father of two former Prime Ministers,

Ichirō , also written Ichiro, Ichirou or Ichiroh is a masculine Japanese given name. The name is occasionally given to the first-born son in a family. Like many Japanese names, Ichirō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 一� ...

"Iichiro Hatoyama; Ex-Foreign Minister, 75" (obituary)
''New York Times.'' December 20, 1993. and

Yukio Yukio is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yukio can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *幸夫, "happiness, man" *幸生, "happiness, live" *幸男, "happiness, man" *幸雄, ...

respectively.

Early years

Hatoyama was born in Tokyo to a high-profile family. He studied at the

University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...

. Iichirō was a 1941 graduate of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

's School of Law; but despite family pressure, he resisted going into law or politics. Instead, he decided to become a public servant; but his plans were interrupted by the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

. He enlisted in the Navy, and was presumed dead when the war ended.Itoh, Mayumi. (2003)
''The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership through the Generations,'' pp. 143-144.
/ref> At end of the war, Iichirō was one of 6.6 million Japanese military personnel and civilians who were stranded overseas. At the time, this was about 8 percent of Japan's entire population. These statistics provide a context for understanding what it meant that Iichirō was unable to return home until December 31, 1945.

Family

Iichirō was the eldest son of

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 was the

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of S ...

in 1955-1956. His grandfather

Kazuo Hatoyama was the patriarchal head of the prominent Japanese Hatoyama political family which has been called "Japan's Kennedy family." Early life and education Hatoyama was born to a samurai family of the Katsuyama clan in present-day Minato, Tokyo ...

was Speaker of the House of Representative in the first Imperial Diet. Despite family pressure, he was interested in building a life outside the arena of Japanese politics; and his sons also grew to become independent-minded men. Iichirō is the father of

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, Hat ...

, who was the 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 is ...

, following a win by the opposition coalition in the 2009 elections. His wife, Yasuko Hatoyama, is a daughter of Shojiro Ishibashi, the founder of

Bridgestone Corporation is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

.Hayashi, Yuka
Japan's Hatoyama Sustains Family Political Tradition
''Wall Street Journal.'' August 1, 2009. The couple have two sons.

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 ...

, like his brother Yukio, may be described as a fourth generation politician and most recently the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. The Hatoyamas have been described in the media as the " Kennedys of Japan".

Career

In 1941, Iichirō joined the

Finance Ministry A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, but this work was interrupted by the

. In 1946, he began making a place for himself in the

meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...

of the Budget Bureau. In this work, he caught the attention of men like

, who would figure prominently in later life. In due course, Iichirō was promoted to the position of Deputy Director General in 1963; and he became Director General in 1965.Itoh
pp. 144
He served as administrative Vice Minister in the Finance Ministry from 1971 to 1972. The position of vice minister is the highest rank in the civil service, comparable to that of "

permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil ...

" in the British civil service or " undersecretary" in the civil service of the United States government. The minister is always a politician. After Iichirō's retirement in 1974, he gave in to long-standing family pressure; and his career in politics began with his election to the

House of Councilors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

(HC) in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

.Itoh
pp. 145–147
The capstone of his political career was the period in which he served as Foreign Minister in 1976–1977.

Notes

References

* Itoh, Mayumi (2003)
''The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership through the Generations''
New York: Palgrave Macmillan. , . . * 鳩山会館編 (Hatoyama Kaikan) (1996). 追想鳩山威一郎 (''Tsuisō Hatoyama Iichirō''). Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten. , . . * Tatsuki, Mariko, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, John Haskell Kemble and Thomas Elliott (1985). ''The First Century of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.''

apan Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the W ...

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatoyama, Iichiro 1918 births 1993 deaths Politicians from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Children of prime ministers of Japan Iichiro Foreign ministers of Japan Japanese diplomats Japanese military personnel of World War II Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Parents of prime ministers of Japan

Early years

Family

Career

See also

Notes

References