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Yōhei Kōno
河野 洋平
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
19 November 2003 – 21 July 2009
Monarch Akihito
Preceded by Tamisuke Watanuki
Succeeded by Takahiro Yokomichi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
5 October 1999 – 26 April 2001
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi
Yoshiro Mori
Preceded by Masahiko Kōmura
Succeeded by Makiko Tanaka
In office
30 June 1994 – 11 January 1996
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama
Preceded by Koji Kakizawa
Succeeded by Yukihiko Ikeda
Deputy Prime Minister of Japan
In office
30 June 1994 – 2 October 1995
Prime MinisterTomiichi Murayama
Preceded byVacant
Succeeded by Ryutaro Hashimoto
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
In office
9 August 1993 – 2 October 1995
Preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa
Succeeded by Ryutaro Hashimoto
Leader of the Opposition
In office
9 August 1993 – 30 June 1994
Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa
Tsutomu Hata
Preceded by Sadao Yamahana
Succeeded by Toshiki Kaifu
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
12 December 1992 – 9 August 1993
Prime MinisterKiichi Miyazawa
Preceded by Koichi Kato
Succeeded by Masayoshi Takemura
Director General of the Science and Technology Agency
In office
28 December 1985 – 22 July 1986
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded by Reiichi Takeuchi
Succeeded by Yataro Mitsubayashi
Personal details
Born (1937-01-15) 15 January 1937 (age 87)
Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (?–1976, 1986-present)
Other political
affiliations
New Liberal Club (1976–1986)
Children Tarō Kōno
Parent
Alma mater Waseda University

Yōhei Kōno (河野 洋平, Kōno Yōhei, born 15 January 1937) is a Japanese politician and a former President of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2003 until August 2009, when the LDP lost its majority in the 2009 election. Kōno served as speaker for the longest length since the set up of House of Representatives in 1890. [1]

He was the president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations from 1999 to 2013. [2]

Early life and education

Kōno was born on 15 January 1937, in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, the eldest son of politician Ichirō Kōno. His father served as deputy prime minister and was in charge of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His younger uncle Kenzō Kōno served as the president of the House of Councillors from 1971 to 1977.

After graduating from Waseda University Senior High School, he studied Economics at Waseda University. Upon graduation, Kōno worked with the Marubeni company. In 1967, Kono's political career began due to the death of his father.

Political career

Kono with members of Murayama Reshuffled Cabinet (at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on 8 August 1995). Despite Murayama served as Prime Minister, Kono as leader of the LDP led the Cabinet.

He was Deputy Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1995 which he had strong influence in the Murayama Cabinet. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and Yoshirō Mori (1993-1995, 1999-2001). He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was once President of the LDP from 1993 to 1995, and to date is one of two LDP leaders, along with Sadakazu Tanigaki, to have never served as Prime Minister of Japan. As he is one of the pro-China faction of the LDP, he came under pressure domestically in the spring of 2005 when anti-Japanese movements in China became intense due to then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine which he opposed the visit to.

Kōno is known for his acknowledgement of comfort women. During his tenure as Chief Cabinet Secretary, in a speech titled the official statement he made in 1993, made after historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi announced he had discovered in the Defense Agency library in Tokyo documentary evidence that the Imperial Japanese Army established and ran comfort stations, he admitted that the Japanese Imperial Army had been involved, directly and indirectly, in the establishment of comfort stations, and that coercion had been used in the recruitment and retention of the women. His subsequent call for historical research and education aimed at remembering the issue became the basis for addressing the subject of forced prostitution in school history textbooks.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Kono's tenure longest as speaker". The Japan Times. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
  2. ^ The Successive President and Vice-President and Senior-Managing-Director of JAAF (日本陸連歴代会長・理事長・専務理事) (in Japanese) Japan Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
Party political offices
Position established President of the New Liberal Club
1976–1979
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the New Liberal Club
1984–1986
Position abolished
Preceded by President of the Liberal Democratic Party
1993–1995
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Director General of the Science and Technology Agency
1985–1986
Succeeded by
Chairman of the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission
1985–1986
Preceded by Chief Cabinet Secretary
1992–1993
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1994–1996
Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister of Japan
1994–1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1999–2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives
2003–2009
Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations
1999–2013
Succeeded by
Hiroshi Yokokawa