Zenkō Suzuki

Zenkō Suzuki (鈴木 善幸, Suzuki Zenkō) was born on 11 January 1911 in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He was the eldest son of a fishery owner. Suzuki graduated in 1935 from the Tokyo University of Fisheries, where he studied aquaculture at the Fisheries Training Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture. During his early years, his political and economic perspectives were influenced by the "cooperativism" of Toyohiko Kagawa.

Suzuki married Sachi Ogihara in 1939, who was the daughter of the president of a fisheries school. He initially worked in several fishery organizations following his graduation.

His political career began with his election to the Japanese Diet in 1947 as a member of the Japan Socialist Party. Over time, Suzuki's political stance shifted to the right, leading him to join the Liberal Party in 1948. Subsequently, he contributed to the merger of the Liberal Party with other parties to establish the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1955.

Within government, Suzuki held various cabinet positions, including Minister of Health from 1965 to 1966, Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries from 1976 to 1977, and posts and telecommunications minister and cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda. During Eisaku Satō's administration, Suzuki served as health and welfare minister, and under Takeo Fukuda, he was agriculture, forests, and fisheries minister.

Suzuki was first elected to the cabinet in 1965. He became an influential figure within the LDP, and following the sudden death of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira in 1980, Suzuki assumed leadership of his faction. He was appointed Prime Minister of Japan in 1980, succeeding Ōhira, and served until 1982. His tenure as prime minister was marked by a large parliamentary majority following the death of Ōhira, and he led Japan through a period characterized by frequent cabinet changes and factional politics.

During his premiership, Suzuki addressed a major diplomatic controversy in 1982 related to changes in Japanese school textbooks, which drew objections from South Korea and China. Suzuki stated that the changes would not be made in order to avoid offending Japan's economically significant neighbors, a stance that caused dissent within his party. He chose not to run for re-election as LDP president in 1982, and Yasuhiro Nakasone succeeded him.

In his later years, Suzuki contributed to fostering foreign relations with the United States, notably participating in a summit with President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Suzuki's family continued his political legacy; his daughter, Chikako Asō, is married to Tarō Asō, who served as Japan's Prime Minister from 2008 to 2009. His son, Shun'ichi Suzuki, serves in the Japanese Diet.

Suzuki died on 19 July 2004 at the International Medical Center of Japan in Tokyo due to pneumonia. He was 93 years old at the time of his death. His wife passed away in 2015.

During his lifetime, Suzuki received several honors, including the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (awarded posthumously in July 2004) and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru in 1982.