Toshiki Kaifu

Toshiki Kaifu (海部 俊樹, Kaifu Toshiki) was born on 2 January 1931 in Nagoya City, Japan. He was the eldest of six brothers. His family operated Nakamura Photo Studio, a business established by his grandfather during the Meiji era, located adjacent to the Matsuzakaya flagship department store. During World War II, Kaifu was involved in student labor mobilization, working in a Mitsui Heavy Industry factory assembling airplane engine parts. In 1945, he was accepted into the Youth Airman Academy of the Imperial Japanese Army; however, the war ended before he could enroll.

Kaifu was educated at Chuo University and Waseda University. He passed the 1960 Japanese general election as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), becoming the youngest member elected to the National Diet at that time. He served in the Diet for sixteen terms, a total of 48 years.

His early government positions included serving as Education Minister under Prime Ministers Takeo Fukuda (1976–1977) and Yasuhiro Nakasone (1985–1986). He was elected leader of the LDP following the resignations of Noboru Takeshita and Sosuke Uno, with a platform emphasizing clean leadership.

Kaifu was appointed the 76th Prime Minister of Japan on 10 August 1989, serving until 1991. During his tenure, he sought to improve Japan's relations with China, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to make an official visit to China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. His visit was notable for breaking China's diplomatic isolation. Following the visit, Kaifu ended Japan's participation in economic sanctions against China and extended financial aid, including a loan of approximately $949.9 million and emergency assistance following floods in southern China in mid-1991.

In 1991, he supported the deployment of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf during the aftermath of the Gulf War. His government faced internal challenges and scandals, notably the Sagawa Express scandal, which hindered efforts at political reforms. He resigned as Prime Minister in November 1991, and Kiichi Miyazawa succeeded him.

In 1994, Kaifu left the LDP to lead the newly established New Frontier Party. He was nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister in June 1994 by politicians Ichirō Ozawa and Tsutomu Hata but was defeated in the Diet vote by the candidate supported by the LDP-Socialist coalition, Tomiichi Murayama. He maintained a close association with Ozawa's party until returning to the LDP in 2003.

Kaifu ran in the 2009 general election but was defeated by the Democratic Party of Japan candidate Mitsunori Okamoto. At that time, he was the longest-serving member of the lower house of the Diet and the first former prime minister to lose reelection since 1963.

On 17 November 1957, Kaifu married Sachiyo Yanagihara, a female assistant to a Member of the House of Representatives. They had two children: a son, Masaki, and a daughter, Mutsumi.

Toshiki Kaifu died of pneumonia on 9 January 2022 at a hospital in Tokyo, at the age of 91. The announcement of his death was made public on 14 January.

He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru in 1989.