Hajime Tamura (田村 元, Tamura Hajime) (5 May 1924 – 1 November 2014) was a Japanese politician. He held different cabinet posts and served as the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Early life and education

Tamura was born in Matsuzaka, Mie Prefecture, in 1924.[1] In 1950, he received a law degree from Keio University.[1][2]

Career and activities

Tamura was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[3] He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1955.[1][4] In the party Tamura was one of the leaders of the Interparty Relations Committee and belonged to the faction led by Kakuei Tanaka.[5]

He was appointed labour minister in 1972 and transport minister in 1976.[1][2] As of 1975 he was the chairman of the Committee of Korean Affairs of the Afro-Asian Problems Study Group.[3] In July that year Tamura headed a delegation which visited North Korea and met with Korean ruler Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang.[3]

From 1986 until 1988, Tamura served as Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in the cabinets led by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and then by Noboru Takeshita.[6][7][8] Tamura's brief tenure as MITI minister largely revolved around the Toshiba–Kongsberg scandal, when Toshiba was caught illegally selling machinery intended for the production of nuclear submarine propellers to the Soviet Union.[9] According to then-congressman Duncan Hunter, these noise-reduced propellors meant that the range at which American nuclear submarines could detect Soviet nuclear submarines was reduced by 50%.[10] In the midst of the ensuing scandal, Tamura traveled to the United States at the behest of Prime Minister Nakasone to formally apologize to US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.[11] In December 1988, Hiroshi Mitsuzuka replaced Tamura as MITI minister.[8]

Tamura became the speaker of the House of Representatives on 2 June 1989, replacing Kenzaburo Hara in the post.[12] Tamura's term ended on 24 January 1990 when Yoshio Sakurauchi was appointed speaker.[12] Tamura, nicknamed the “wheeler-dealer” in political arena, continued to serve as a member of the House of Representatives until his retirement from politics in 1996.[13]

Personal life and death

Tamura was married and has three daughters.[1] His nephew, Norihisa Tamura, served as the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare under Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Tamura died of natural causes in November 2014, at age 90.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "A Perspective of Japanese/Canadian Economic Ties and Japan's Overseas Economic Policy". Empire Club of Canada. 20 June 1988. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Kakuei Tanaka. Chapter 5. Getting Rid of Kaifu". rcrinc.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2003.
  3. ^ a b c Jung Hyun Shin (Spring–Summer 1980). "Japanese-North Korean Relations in the 1970s: From a Linkage. Politics Perspective". Asian Perspectives. 4 (1): 80. JSTOR 43737946.
  4. ^ "Norihisa Tamura". Kantei. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  5. ^ Yasumasa Kuroda (2005). The Core of Japanese Democracy Latent Interparty Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 101. doi:10.1057/9781403978349. ISBN 978-1-4039-6901-9.
  6. ^ Clyde Haberman (7 November 1987). "Japan's New Cabinet Gets Old Face". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Japan's longest-serving trade minister". Xinhuanet. 30 September 2002. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  8. ^ a b Karl Schoenberger (28 December 1988). "Takeshita Shuffles Cabinet but Retains Key Ministers". Los Angeles Times. Tokyo. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  9. ^ Wrubel, Wende A. (January 1989). "The Toshiba-Kongsberg Incident: Shortcomings of Cocom, and Recommendations for Increased Effectiveness of Export Controls to the East Bloc" (PDF). American University Journal of International Law and Policy. 4 (1): 241–273. S2CID 155366596. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2015.
  10. ^ Skidmore, Dave (2 July 1987). "Rep. Bentley: None Dare Call It Toshiba". The Associated Press. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  11. ^ Michael Henderson (1994). All Her Paths Are Peace: Women Pioneers in Peacemaking. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1565490345.
  12. ^ a b "The National Diet of Japan" (PDF). Secretariat of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Former Lower House speaker Tamura dies at 90". The Japan Times. Kyodo. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. ^ "元衆院議長の田村元氏死去 当選１４回「政界仕掛け人". Asahi (in Japanese). 4 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
House of Representatives (Japan)
Preceded by
Kinji Moriyama
 Chair, Committee on Construction of the House of Representatives
1966 		Succeeded by
Kunio Morishita
Preceded by
Tsuneo Uchida
 Chair, Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives
1968 		Succeeded by
Masami Tanaka
Preceded by Chair, Committee on Budget of the House of Representatives
1979–1980 		Succeeded by
Osanori Koyama
Preceded by Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan
1989–1990 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair, Diet Affairs Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party
1981–1982 		Succeeded by
Hikosaburō Okonigi
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Labour
1972 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Transport
1976–1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of International Trade and Industry
1986–1988 		Succeeded by
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajime_Tamura
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