was the wife of former Japanese 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 Career In 1946, he returned to the Ministry of F ...

and mother of former

Prime Minister of Japan The 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 state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

Yukio Hatoyama is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and Leader of the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Repre ...

and

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 ...

(Japan's bicameral legislature) member

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 Hatoya ...

. Hatoyama funded the establishment of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...

(DPJ).

Background and family

Hatoyama was born in present-day

Kurume, Fukuoka is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 295,367 in 137,140 households, and a population density of 1309 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kurume is located in the Chikugo Plain ...

. Her father, Shojiro Ishibashi, founded the

Bridgestone Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning 'stone bridge' in ...

, the world's largest tiremaker, in 1930. She became heiress to Ishibashi's considerable inheritance upon his death in the 1970s. She attended middle and high school in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, during which time she met former

, who later became

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. They were married at the

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo The is a hotel in Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo. It was created in the late 1880s at the request of the Japanese aristocracy to cater to the increasing number of Western visitors to Japan. The hotel site is located just south of the Im ...

in 1942. The couple had two sons, both of whom have pursued successful political careers.

served as the

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

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, stems and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in A ...

defeated Aso in the 2009 general election and became the

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The Hatoyama family 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 County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P ...

Political activities

Hatoyama contributed significant amounts of her inheritance to help finance the political and career goals of both her sons. She donated billions of yen in 1996 when her two sons, Kunio and Yukio, co-founded the

(DPJ). Her contributions helped to fund and establish the new

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. She was nicknamed the " Godmother" within the Japanese political world for her

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

contributions to the political ambitions of her family.

Death

Hatoyama resided in a home for the elderly adjacent to St. Luke's International Hospital in Chuo, Tokyo. She died there on February 11, 2013 at the age of 90. Hatoyama was survived by her two sons, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren at the time of her death.

Notes

References

* Itoh, Mayumi (2003)
''The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership through the Generations''
New York: Palgrave Macmillan. , . . {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatoyama, Yasuko 1922 births 2013 deaths Bridgestone people Yasuko Japanese activists Japanese women activists Democratic Party of Japan politicians People from Kurume Spouses of Japanese politicians Parents of prime ministers of Japan Activists from Fukuoka Prefecture