The Second Hashimoto Cabinet governed Japan from November 1996 to July 1998 under the leadership of

Ryutaro Hashimoto was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1996 to 1998. Born in Okayama Prefecture, Hashimoto graduated from Keio University in 1960 and entered the National Diet in 1963. He rose through the ...

Political background

Hashimoto had become Prime Minister in January 1996 at the head of a three-party coalition, and was returned to office in the general election of November 1996. While the coalition parties (the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

, the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

and the

New Party Sakigake The , also known as the New Harbinger Party, was a political party in Japan that broke away from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on 22 June 1993. The party was created by Masayoshi Takemura. The party was centrist, and had many reformist ...

) won a slim majority in the

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

, the SDP and NPS had seen their popularity collapse due to their association with the coalition, and decided to remain outside the government. Therefore, Hashimoto formed a minority, wholly LDP government (the first since 1993) with the promise of SDP and NPS support when he was elected by the

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

on November 7. He promised to continue his policies of "six great reforms" in the areas of administration, financial markets, education, social security, fiscal policy and economic policy, and appointed several former ministers to cabinet to help achieve this. Less than a year into Hashimoto's second term in September 1997, the LDP regained a slim majority in the lower house due to defections from, and eventual break up of the opposition New Frontier Party, although the government maintained its alliance with the SDP and NPS. Several days later, Hashimoto conducted a cabinet reshuffle, which backfired when he was severely criticised for his appointment of Koko Sato, who had been convicted of bribery in relation to the

Lockheed Scandal The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft. The scandal caused considerable politi ...

. This criticism forced Sato to resign after only 11 days in office. The government was damaged further when Finance Minister

Hiroshi Mitsuzuka was a veteran Japanese politician. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. He represented his party at the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives from 1972 to 2003. In addit ...

resigned in January 1998 because of a corruption scandal that had been uncovered in the

Finance Ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. At the same time, as part of efforts to close the budget deficit, Hashimoto's government raised the consumption tax in 1998, which negatively affected consumer demand and caused a recession at a time of high unemployment. By 1998 the poor economic situation, the backlash against economic reforms and the cabinet resignations had greatly diminished Hashimoto's popularity. In the 1998 House of Councillor's election, the LDP lost several seats, leaving the government in a minority. Hashimoto immediately resigned and was replaced by Foreign Minister

Keizō Obuchi was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000. Born in Gunma Prefecture, Obuchi graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the National Diet in 1963, becoming one of the youngest legislators i ...

, who took office on July 30, 1998, and inaugurated the Obuchi Cabinet.

Election of the prime minister

List of ministers

R = Member of the

C = Member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

Cabinet

Reshuffled cabinet

Changes

* September 22, 1997 - Director of the Management and Co-Ordination Agency, Koko Sato resigned due to criticism of a previous conviction for bribery in connection with the

and was replaced by Sadatoshi Ozato. * September 27, 1997 - Agriculture Minister Ihei Ochi resigned after suffering a stroke and was replaced with Yoshinobu Shimamura. * January 28, 1998 - Finance Minister

resigned to take responsibility for departmental corruption and was replaced with

Hikaru Matsunaga was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who briefly served as the Minister of Finance from 27 January to 30 July 1998. Early life and education Matsunaga was born on 23 November 1928. He is a graduate of Waseda Universi ...

References

External links

Lists of Ministers at the Kantei:
Second Hashimoto Cabinet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Second Hashimoto Cabinet Cabinet of Japan 1996 establishments in Japan 1998 disestablishments in Japan Cabinets established in 1996 Cabinets disestablished in 1998