Hajime Tamura

Hajime Tamura (田村 元, Tamura Hajime) (5 May 1924 – 1 November 2014) was a Japanese politician. He held different cabinet posts and served as the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Hajime Tamura
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
2 June 1989 – 24 January 1990
MonarchAkihito
Preceded byKenzaburo Hara
Succeeded byYoshio Sakurauchi
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office
22 July 1986 – 27 December 1988
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Noboru Takeshita
Preceded byMichio Watanabe
Succeeded byHiroshi Mitsuzuka
Minister of Transport
In office
14 December 1976 – 28 November 1977
Prime MinisterTakeo Fukuda
Preceded byHirohide Ishida
Succeeded byKenji Fukunaga
Minister of Labour
In office
7 July 1972 – 22 December 1972
Prime MinisterKakuei Tanaka
Preceded byToshio Tsukahara
Succeeded byTsunetaro Kato
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
27 February 1955 – 20 October 1996
Personal details
Born(1924-05-09)9 May 1924
Matsuzaka, Mie
Died1 November 2014(2014-11-01) (aged 90)
Shibuya Tokyo
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
Alma materKeio University

Early life and education

Tamura was born in Matsuzaka, Mie Prefecture, in 1924.[1] In 1950, he received a law degree from Keio University.[1][2]

Career and activities

Tamura was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[3] He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1955.[1][4] In the party Tamura was one of the leaders of the Interparty Relations Committee and belonged to the faction led by Kakuei Tanaka.[5]

He was appointed labour minister in 1972 and transport minister in 1976.[1][2] As of 1975 he was the chairman of the Committee of Korean Affairs of the Afro-Asian Problems Study Group.[3] In July that year Tamura headed a delegation which visited North Korea and met with Korean ruler Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang.[3] Tamura served as minister of international trade and industry from 1986 to 1988 in the cabinets led by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and then by Noboru Takeshita.[6][7][8] When he was in office he apologized to the United States for an export violation committed by a Japanese manufacturer.[9] In a reshuffle in December 1988 Hiroshi Mitsuzuka replaced Tamura as minister of international trade and industry.[8] Tamura became the speaker of the House of Representatives on 2 June 1989, replacing Kenzaburo Hara in the post.[10] Tamura's term ended on 24 January 1990 when Yoshio Sakurauchi was appointed speaker.[10]

Tamura, nicknamed the “wheeler-dealer” in political arena, retired from politics in 1996.[11]

Personal life and death

Tamura was married and has three daughters.[1] His nephew, Norihisa Tamura, served as the minister of health, labour, and welfare under Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Tamura died of natural causes on 1 November 2014 at age 90.[11][12]

References
  1. "A Perspective of Japanese/Canadian Economic Ties and Japan's Overseas Economic Policy". Empire Club of Canada. 20 June 1988. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. "Kakuei Tanaka. Chapter 5. Getting Rid of Kaifu". rcrinc.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2003.
  3. Jung Hyun Shin (Spring–Summer 1980). "Japanese-North Korean Relations in the 1970s: From a Linkage. Politics Perspective". Asian Perspectives. 4 (1): 80. JSTOR 43737946.
  4. "Norihisa Tamura". Kantei. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  5. Yasumasa Kuroda (2005). The Core of Japanese Democracy Latent Interparty Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 101. doi:10.1057/9781403978349. ISBN 978-1-4039-6901-9.
  6. Clyde Haberman (7 November 1987). "Japan's New Cabinet Gets Old Face". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  7. "Japan's longest-serving trade minister". Xinhuanet. 30 September 2002. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  8. Karl Schoenberger (28 December 1988). "Takeshita Shuffles Cabinet but Retains Key Ministers". Los Angeles Times. Tokyo. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  9. Michael Henderson (1994). All Her Paths Are Peace: Women Pioneers in Peacemaking. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1565490345.
  10. "The National Diet of Japan" (PDF). Secretariat of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  11. "Former Lower House speaker Tamura dies at 90". The Japan Times. Kyodo. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  12. "元衆院議長の田村元氏死去 当選１４回「政界仕掛け人". Asahi (in Japanese). 4 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
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