福田 赳夫

Takeo Fukuda (1905-1995) was Prime Minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978. First elected to the National Diet as an independent in 1952, Fukuda later joined the Liberal Party and then, following the merger of the Liberal and Democratic Parties in 1955, represented the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) until his retirement in 1990.

Born in a small village in Gunma Prefecture on January 14, 1905, Fukuda studied at Tokyo Imperial University and worked as a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance for two decades prior to his entry into politics. During the Pacific War, Fukuda served as an economic advisor to the regime of Japanese collaborator Wang Jingwei in south China.

In the early postwar period, Fukuda became embroiled in the Showa Denko Scandal, which found several bureaucrats and politicians accused of corruption and bribery, and led to the fall of the Ashida Hitoshi cabinet. Fukuda was arrested and although he was later acquitted, the incident forced him to resign from the Ministry and precipitated his entry into electoral politics.

By the time of the Sato Eisaku administration (1964-1972), Fukuda had risen to the top ranks of the LDP, and served in prestigious posts under Sato including Minister of Finance (1965–66, 1968–71) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1971–72). After Satō stepped down as Prime Minister in 1972, Fukuda ran as a candidate to replace him but lost out to insurgent candidate Tanaka Kakuei, but remained a powerful force in the party, serving once again as Minister of Finance under Takana (1973–74), and serving as Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1974–76) under the cabinet of Tanaka's successor as prime minister, Miki Takeo.

Following LDP's poor showing in the 1976 election, Miki was forced to step down as Prime Minister, and Fukuda was elected to replace him. Fukuda remained in office until 1978. Fukuda's signature achievement as Prime Minister was overseeing the enactment of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China, which normalized relations between the two nations after a diplomatic rupture of more than four decades.

Following his service as Prime Minister, Fukuda continued to serve in the Diet for 12 more years before resigning in 1990 at the age of 85. He died on July 5, 1995, at the age of 90.

Fukuda's son, Fukuda Yasuo followed his father into politics, and also served as Prime Minister, from 2007 to 2008.


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