Nobuo Ishihara. (Kyodo)
Former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobuo Ishihara, nicknamed the “shadow prime minister” after seven prime ministers from 1987 to 1995, has died, the government said Wednesday. he was 96 years old.
Ishihara, who became a top cabinet bureaucrat after serving as vice minister at the Home Ministry, has worked for every Japanese prime minister, from Noboru Takeshita to Tomiichi Murayama.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference that he died of multiple organ failure.
Ishihara served seven years and three months as deputy chief cabinet secretary, the third longest in history, including Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa’s coalition government in 1993 that briefly suspended the LDP’s grip on power since 1955.
During his tenure, he was known as the ‘shadow prime minister’ due to his strong influence on administrative procedures during political turmoil.
Through several historical events in post-World War II Japan, such as the funeral of Emperor Showa in 1989, the introduction of the consumption tax in the same year, and the introduction of the consumption tax in Japan in 1995, other bureaucrats and cabinets Worked with elected politicians. Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The Japanese cabinet has three vice-ministers under the law. One of his posts is usually occupied by an elite bureaucrat, the other two of him by members of parliament.
Originally from Gunma Prefecture, Mr. Ishihara joined the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1952 after graduating from the University of Tokyo.
After retiring from public office, Ishihara ran for governor of Tokyo in 1995 with the support of major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, but was defeated by Yukio Aoshima.
Ishihara has become more vocal on political issues in recent years, speaking at a congressional hearing in 2014 about his involvement in drafting a 1993 apology for women who served in Japanese military brothels during the war. rice field.
Ishihara also voiced his opinion at a government advisory committee hearing in 2016 that was considering ways to ease the burden on former Emperor Akihito after receiving an unusual video message that hinted at his desire to abdicate. bottom.
