29 Facts About Morihiro Hosokawa

Morihiro Hosokawa is a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994.

Morihiro Hosokawa led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party premier since 1955.

Morihiro Hosokawa graduated from Sophia University before working at the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, and was elected to the National Diet in 1971 before leaving to serve as governor of his home prefecture from 1983 to 1991.

In 1992, Morihiro Hosokawa left the LDP to found the reformist Japan New Party, which won 35 seats in the 1993 general election.

Morihiro Hosokawa initiated electoral reforms before Tsutomu Hata's Japan Renewal Party took over leadership of the coalition in 1994.

Morihiro Hosokawa joined the New Frontier Party in 1996 and Democratic Party of Japan in 1998 before retiring from politics.

Morihiro Hosokawa unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Tokyo in 2014.

Morihiro Hosokawa was born in Tokyo as the eldest grandson of Moritatsu, 3rd Marquess Hosokawa, and head of the Hosokawa clan.

Morihiro Hosokawa is a descendant of Christian heroine Gracia Hosokawa.

Morihiro Hosokawa was elected to the House of Councillors of Japan as an LDP representative of Kumamoto Prefecture in 1971, with his campaign funded by party boss Kakuei Tanaka.

Morihiro Hosokawa pursued an aggressive economic policy and strengthened environmental laws.

Morihiro Hosokawa was at odds with Japan's bureaucracy, which he sought to reform after decades of bureaucratic entrenchment under the LDP.

Morihiro Hosokawa made several unprecedented moves toward atonement with Japan's Asian neighbors during his term as prime minister.

Morihiro Hosokawa viewed the Japanese annexation of Korea as wrong and rejected the right-wing view in Japan that it was with Korea's consent and was beneficial to Korea.

In May 1994, right-wing extremist Masakatsu Nozoe fired a gunshot into the ceiling of a Tokyo hotel where Morihiro Hosokawa was giving a speech, in apparent protest at Morihiro Hosokawa's statements.

Morihiro Hosokawa later speculated that if both men had remained in office longer Russian-Japanese relations would have improved significantly.

Morihiro Hosokawa had a good personal relationship with Bill Clinton, but trade disputes between Japan and the United States dominated US-Japan relations during Morihiro Hosokawa's tenure.

The Morihiro Hosokawa government pushed for changes to Japanese election laws intended to fight political corruption, including elimination of corporate political donations to individual candidates and a redrawing of the electoral system, both intended to prevent the LDP from continuing to employ its past electoral practices.

Morihiro Hosokawa enacted cuts in income and resident taxes, intended to help Japan out of the recession that had followed the Japanese asset price bubble of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Morihiro Hosokawa was forced to resign in April 1994 after it came to light that he had accepted a 100-million-yen loan from a trucking company previously accused of bribery and links to organized crime.

Amid allegations of bribery, Morihiro Hosokawa argued that the money was a loan and produced a receipt to show that he had paid it back; LDP members passed around a copy remarking that it looked like a fake.

Morihiro Hosokawa's resignation was abrupt and led to a number of frenzied meetings aimed at saving the coalition, which was torn between the rival camps of Ichiro Ozawa and Masayoshi Takemura.

The Morihiro Hosokawa cabinet was a product of his multi-party coalition but was dominated by individuals viewed as conservatives.

Morihiro Hosokawa joined the New Frontier Party in 1994 but, following further disputes with Ichiro Ozawa, left in 1997 with four other legislators who formed the short-lived From Five party.

Morihiro Hosokawa tacitly served as Koizumi's personal envoy to China at times of strained Sino-Japanese relations during Koizumi's term as prime minister from 2001 to 2006.

Morihiro Hosokawa retired from politics in 1998 at the age of 60.

Morihiro Hosokawa uses his pottery for tea ceremonies at a tea house originally constructed for a visit by Jacques Chirac, which was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Iraq War.

Morihiro Hosokawa is a special consultant to The Japan Times.

In 2014, at the age of 75, Morihiro Hosokawa was approached by the DPJ to run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election.