1980s in Japan - Politics

Politics

Emperor Showa died in the year 1989 after serving his people for more than 60 years. Akihito acceded to the throne in 1989, and is the 20th most senior monarch or lifelong leader. He is the world's only reigning monarch whose title is customarily translated into English as "Emperor".

There were a number of prime ministers who served during the 1980s. Masayoshi Ōhira had to finish his second term in June 1980 and call early elections when the LDP's Fukuda, Nakasone and Miki factions abstained or voted with the opposition in a vote of no-confidence. He was only the second Christian to hold this office, the first having been Tetsu Katayama (1947–1948). Zenkō Suzuki was appointed LDP president and Prime Minister following the sudden death of Ōhira, who died of a heart attack during the 1980 general election campaign. The sympathy vote generated by Ohira's death resulted in a landslide for the ruling LDP, handing Suzuki the largest parliamentary majority any Prime Minister had enjoyed for many years, and silencing inner-party opposition. Suzuki chose not to run for reelection to the presidency of the LDP in 1982, and was succeeded by Yasuhiro Nakasone in November 1982.

Yasuhiro Nakasone served three terms and implemented a policy of economic liberalization. Among his biggest projects was the privatization of the Japanese National Railways. On foreign policy, he sought close alignment with the United States maintaining a personal friendship with U.S. president Ronald Reagan. Nakasone gained notoriety among the various non-Japanese ethnic groups in Japan (particularly the sizeable Korean minority) for proclaiming that Japan's success was because it did not have ethnic minorities, like the US. He then clarified his comments, stating that he meant to congratulate the US on its economic success despite the presence of "problematic" minorities. Nakasone was replaced by Noboru Takeshita in November 1987, and both were implicated, along with other LDP lawmakers, in the Recruit scandal that broke the following year.

In June 1989, Sōsuke Uno became Prime Minister only to resign less than three months later in August 1989 amid a sex scandal revealed by a geisha. The controversy surrounding Uno's extramarital affair was more focused on irresponsibility rather than immorality; Uno supposedly did not support his mistress, at the least not with an appropriate amount, which led her to complain publicly. The story was not widely publicized in Japan until a Washington Post reporter picked up the story from the Mainichi Shimbun, bringing international attention to Uno. Following Uno's resignation, most LDP lawmakers refused to associate with him, and he quickly lost control over his faction within the party. He was succeeded by the final Prime Minister of the 1980s, Toshiki Kaifu, who was seen as a reformer within the LDP. Kaifu's appointment was a reaction to the political scandals of the late 1980s, but his attempts to reform the party were ultimately unsuccessful. The defeat in the House of Councillors elections of 1989 was the prelude for the LDP's decline as dominant party in the 1990s.