Home > Morihiro Hosokawa

Hosokawa was born into a branch of the ancient Fujiwara family in Tokyo (the former Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe was his grandfather) and received his LL.B. from Sophia University in 19611961 (As MAD Magazine pointed out on its first cover for the year) was the first "upside-down" year i. one that looked the same upside down since 1881, and the last until 6009. Events January January 1 The farthing coin, used since the 13th century, cease. After working for the Asahi ShimbunAsahi Shimbun ( Asahi Shinbun is a national leading newspaper in Japan. Though the circulation, which is 12,600,000 as of 2002, is behind that of Yomiuri Shinbun, the influence is considered greater. Its views are more liberal than those of the Yomiuri Sh for several years, he was elected to the House of Councillors of Japan as a member of the LDP in 19711971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). Events January January 1 British divorce Reform Act comes into force January 2 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster. Janua, representing Kumamoto prefecture.

After serving two terms in the National DietThe National Diet of Japan (; Kokkai is Japan's legislature. It consists of two houses: the House of Representatives (; Shugi-in and the House of Councillors (; Sangi-in . Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. As wel, he left in 1983Events January January 1 Beat Raaflaub became Basel Boys Choir's new conductor January 1 the ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet. January 1 compulsory wearing of seat belts becomes law in the UK. January 2 The mu to become the governor of Kumamoto, where he served until 19911991 like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 2 Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first blac.

In 1992, he announced that he could no longer stand the corruption in the LDP, and left to found the reformist Japan New Party (JNP).

In the summer of 1993, in a change very few had foreseen even a year earlier, the LDP lost its majority in the Diet for the first time in thirty-eight years and was replaced by an eight-party coalition government which promised a series of social, political, and economic reforms. Excluding the JCP, the coalition was backed by all of the former opposition parties, which included the newly formed JNP, the Socialist Party, Shinseito , Komeito, the Democratic Socialist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the New Party Sakigake. Hosokawa, one of the major voices in forming the coalition, was chosen as the new Prime Minister.

One of the first things the newly elected PM did was to say what no other Japanese leader, including the Emperor, had said for forty-eight years. In his August 15, 1993 speech at the annual war memorial services, he publicly acknowledged that World War II was a “war of aggression, a mistaken war” and expressed responsibility and condolences to the war victims and survivors, in Japan, its Asian neighbors, and the rest of the world.

On March 19, 1994, he visited China. The two governments signed the agreement of cooperation in environmental protection.

Although his coalition managed to secure passage of legislation to reform the electoral system in 1994, the subject of a long-running national debate, Hosokawa’s run as PM was short lived. Under allegations that he had misused personal funds in the 1980's, he was forced to resign later that year, just eight months after taking office. After his resignation, the coalition was taken over by the Shinseito president Tsutomu Hata.

Hosokawa joined Shinshinto in 1996, and later moved to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in 1998 from which he retired from politics in May of that year.

In his retirement, he has taken up pottery which has been exhibited in Japan and Europe. He is also a special consultant to The Japan Times.