Takeo Miki
Takeo Miki | |
|---|---|
三木 武夫 | |
 Takeo Miki in the 1970s | |
| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 9 December 1974 – 24 December 1976 | |
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| Preceded by | Kakuei Tanaka |
| Succeeded by | Takeo Fukuda |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 31 March 1937 – 14 November 1988 | |
| Constituency | Tokushima At-large |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 March 1907 Awa, Tokushima, Japan |
| Died | 14 November 1988 (aged 81) Tokyo, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mutsuko Miki (1940–1988; his death) |
| Alma mater | Meiji University University of Southern California |
| Signature |  |
Takeo Miki (三木 武夫, Miki Takeo, 17 March 1907 – 14 November 1988) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1974 until 1976.
Background summary[]
Born in Awa, Tokushima, Miki graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo. He attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from the institution in 1966.[1]
During 1937 Miki was elected to the Diet; he remained there for the rest of his life, winning re-election no fewer than 19 times over 51 years. In the 1942 general election he openly voiced opposition to the military government under Hideki Tojo and still managed to win a seat; his efforts at this time were assisted by Kan Abe, the grandfather of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.[2]
Miki took over from Kakuei Tanaka as Prime Minister on 9 December 1974, following the latter's implication in the corruption concerning real-estate and construction companies. The attractiveness of Miki to the LDP bosses was chiefly due to his personal integrity, and his weak power base from his small faction. In fact, Miki had neither expected nor wanted to be prime minister at all, as was reflected when upon his election he murmured "a bolt from the blue".[citation needed]
While Miki was at the funeral of ex-PM Eisaku Sato in 1975, he was assaulted by a right-wing extremist: Hiroyoshi Fudeyasu, the secretary-general of the Greater Japan Patriotic Party[3] with foreign dignitaries nearby.[4] This caused criticism of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police over not doing enough to ensure his safety.[3]
After being elected, Miki attempted to reform the LDP, relentlessly investigating the Lockheed bribery scandals, which made him a large number of enemies within the party. A campaign literally called "Down with Miki" ("Miki oroshi") was started by influential faction leaders. Despite Miki's personal popularity with the public, the Lockheed scandal reflected poorly on the party, which lost its overall majority in the 1976 election to the Diet and had to make deals with minor parties to remain in power. Embarrassed by the result, Miki resigned[5] and was succeeded on 24 December 1976, by Takeo Fukuda.
Miscellaneous[]
In Mao Zedong's final days, he took a great interest in Miki's political condition, as Miki was suffering a coup d'état from amongst his own party. Mao had never shown any interest in Miki before, or even mentioned him.
He held many other posts during his career in addition to being prime minister.
NFL player Takeo Spikes was named after Miki.[6]
Connection to Seattle[]
During his time in Seattle, Miki spent a period as a dishwasher at noted Japanese restaurant Maneki.[7]
To commemorate the ties of Japan to America, and Seattle in particular, Miki gave 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle to commemorate the United States Bicentennial in 1976. This gift gave birth to the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival, still running annually.[8]
Slang Term[]
In Hong Kong, the name "Takeo Miki" (三木武夫) is sometimes used to describe actors or actresses with wooden or no emotional expressions during movies or TV dramas. Some[who?] have said that the origin for the slang term stems from Miki's wooden expression during his appearance in news reports.
Honours[]
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (14 November 1988; posthumous)
Foreign honour[]
Mexico: Sash of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (18 September 1967)
Gallery[]
Memorandum of Conversation, White House state dining room, June 30, 1976
References[]
- ^ Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry, Takeo Miki's visit to Los Angeles, California, 29–30 September 1966 and 1 and 3 October 1966, Japanese American National Museum, Accessed 10 February 2009.
- ^ "Japanese prime minister's another DNA". Dong-A Ilbo. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Attack on Miki, security lapse shock citizens".
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/17/archives/japanese-premier-is-punched-by-a-rightist-at-sato-funeral.htmlM
- ^ "Tanaka reshuffles Japanese cabinet". Daytona Beach Morning. Tokyo. AP. 17 July 1974. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Michael Silver, Face Lift, Sports Illustrated, 26 November 2001, Accessed 7 October 2011.
- ^ Broom, Jack (September 20, 2004), "Japanese eatery will serve up a centennial party of its own", The Seattle Times
- ^ McKenzie, Madeline (April 24, 2019), "Enjoy a celebration of Japanese culture and other spring events in Seattle and Bellevue", The Seattle Times
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- 1907 births
- 1988 deaths
- 20th-century prime ministers of Japan
- Prime Ministers of Japan
- People from Tokushima Prefecture
- Meiji University alumni
- University of Southern California alumni
- Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
- 20th-century Japanese politicians
- Deputy Prime Ministers of Japan
- Foreign ministers of Japan
- Politicians from Tokushima Prefecture