Yukihiko Ikeda

Yukihiko Ikeda (池田 行彦, Ikeda Yukihiko, 13 May 1937 – 28 January 2004) was a Japanese bureaucrat and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician who served as foreign minister.[1] He was in office from 11 January 1996 to 11 September 1997. Ikeda was known to be "Mr. No" in the political life.[2]

Yukihiko Ikeda
池田 行彦
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
11 January 1996 – 11 September 1997
Prime MinisterRyutaro Hashimoto
Preceded byYōhei Kōno
Succeeded byKeizō Obuchi
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office
29 December 1990 – 5 November 1991
Prime MinisterToshiki Kaifu
Preceded byYozo Ishikawa
Succeeded bySohei Miyashita
Head of the Management and Coordination Agency
In office
3 June 1989 – 10 August 1989
Prime MinisterSōsuke Uno
Preceded bySaburō Kanemaru
Succeeded byKiyoshi Mizuno
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
30 November 1981 – 27 November 1982
Prime MinisterZenkō Suzuki
Preceded byRiki Kawara
Succeeded byTakao Fujinami
Personal details
Born(1937-05-13)13 May 1937
Kobe, Empire of Japan
Died28 January 2004(2004-01-28) (aged 66)
Tokyo, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo

Early life and education

Ikeda was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, on 13 May 1937.[3] Following the death of his father in 1944, he moved to Nakajima Honmachi, Hiroshima where his father's family lived. Ikeda studied law at the University of Tokyo and graduated in March 1961.[4]

Career
with members of First Hashimoto Cabinet (at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on 11 January 1996)

Ikeda joined the ministry of finance in 1961[5] and worked as bureaucrat there.[4] Then he became a member of the House of Representatives in 1976 following his membership to the LDP.[4][6] He won the largest number of votes (55,027) in Hiroshima Prefecture's 2nd electoral district in the 1976 general election.[7] He served as a lawmaker ten times until his retirement.[8] He held key positions in the LDP and was the director general of the Defense Agency.[8] His other posts included chairman of the LDP's decision-making general council and head of the policy research council.[6] He was appointed defense minister on 29 December 1990, replacing Yozo Ishikawa in the post.[9] He served in the post until 5 November 1991 and was succeeded by Sohei Miyashita.[9]

Ikeda's second tenure as foreign minister was from 11 January 1996 to 11 September 1997 in the coalition government headed by Ryutaro Hashimoto.[8][10][11] Ikeda replaced Yōhei Kōno as foreign minister.[10] Upon the construction of a wharf facility in Takeshima/Dokdo by the South Korean government at the beginning of 1996, Ikeda protested over the construction and demanded that the South Korean government should stop it.[12] His remarks led to angry public demonstrations in Seoul.[12] He led Japan's attempts to solve the hostage crisis in Peru in the 1990s.[8] Ikeda was replaced by Keizō Obuchi as foreign minister on 11 September 1997.[10]

Later Ikeda became the policy chief or top policy planner of the LDP in 1998.[2][13] He was part of Koichi Kato's faction in the LDP.[2]

Personal life and death

Ikeda was son-in-law of former Japanese prime minister Hayato Ikeda.[7][8] He married Noriko Ikeda in May 1969,[4] and took his wife's family name.[14]

Ikeda died of rectum cancer in Tokyo on 28 January 2004 at age 66.[6][8]

Honours

From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

References
  1. "Former Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  2. "Ikeda's prudence brings LDP General Council head post". Kyodo News. Tokyo. 30 September 1999. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  3. The International Who's Who 2004. Psychology Press. 2003. p. 782. ISBN 978-1-85743-217-6.
  4. "Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  5. Goro Gotemba; Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (1 March 2006). Japan on the Upswing: Why the Bubble Burst and Japan's Economic Renewal (Hc). Algora Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-87586-462-4.
  6. "Japan's Ex-Foreign Min. Yukihiko Ikeda Dies". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. Jiji. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  7. Karl Dixon (Summer 1977). "The 1976 General Election in Japan". Pacific Affairs. 50 (2): 208–230. doi:10.2307/2756299. JSTOR 2756299.
  8. "Deaths Elsewhere". Gettysburg Times. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  9. "Defense ministers of Japan". Rulers. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  10. "Foreign Ministers of Japan". Rulers. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  11. "January 1996". Rulers. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  12. Kentaro Nakajima (2007). "Is Japanese maritime strategy changing? An analysis of the Takeshima/Dokdo issue" (Occasional Paper). Harvard University. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  13. "Leaving it to the old man". The Economist. Tokyo. 30 July 1998. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  14. "Former Foreign Minister Ikeda dies at 66". Kyodo News. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
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