43 Facts About Tomiichi Murayama

Tomiichi Murayama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996.

Tomiichi Murayama was the country's first socialist premier since Tetsu Katayama in 1948, and is best remembered for the Murayama Statement on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which he officially apologized for Japan's past colonial wars and aggression.

Tomiichi Murayama was elected to the Oita City Council in 1955 as a member of the Japan Socialist Party; he was then elected to the Oita Prefectural Assembly in 1963 and to the National Diet in 1972.

Tomiichi Murayama resigned as prime minister in 1996, and reorganized the JSP as the Social Democratic Party.

Tomiichi Murayama is currently the oldest living Japanese prime minister following the death of Yasuhiro Nakasone in 2019.

Tomiichi Murayama was born in Oita Prefecture on 3 March 1924; his father was a fisherman.

Tomiichi Murayama's father died when he was fourteen, forcing him to deliver newspapers and work small jobs to help make a living.

Tomiichi Murayama entered Meiji University in 1943 as a philosophy student, but was mobilised in 1944 and assigned to work in the Ishikawajima shipyards.

Tomiichi Murayama was demobilised following Japan's surrender with the rank of officer candidate, and finished the war as a cadet with the rank of sergeant.

Tomiichi Murayama graduated from Meiji University in 1946, and in 1948, he became the general secretary of the Oita Prefecture Fishing Village Youth League.

Tomiichi Murayama then ran in the 1972 Japanese general election for the former Oita's 1st, being placed at the top of the list and winning.

Tomiichi Murayama was then elected nine more times in the district.

When Makoto Tanabe replaced Takako Doi as Chairman of the JSP, Tomiichi Murayama became chairman of the National Diet Committee.

At the so-called "Peacekeeping session" in 1992, where it was debated if the Japan Self-Defense Forces should participate in United Nations peacekeeping work, Tomiichi Murayama took the role of the primary opposition leader to the bill.

In January 1993, Sadao Yamahana replaced Makoto Tanabe as chairman of the Socialist Party, but Tomiichi Murayama remained as chairman of the National Diet Committee.

Tomiichi Murayama was elected as leader without much in the way of opposition, appointing Wataru Kubo as General-Secretary.

Tomiichi Murayama felt betrayed by the announcement - he announced the JSP would withdrawal from the coalition, leaving it with minority status.

The Tomiichi Murayama Cabinet was a coalition government, sometimes described as a grand coalition, which played a significant part in ending the often explosive LDP-JSP conflict which had dominated every election prior, even with third parties beginning to form in the seventies and eighties.

All successive cabinets since Tomiichi Murayama have clearly stated that they will follow the statement.

The aptly name "Tomiichi Murayama Statement" has become established, and it is treated as the official position of the Japanese government.

Somewhat frustrated by being unable to find the votes necessary to pass it unanimously, Tomiichi Murayama turned towards drawing up a separate statement.

Several scholars, led by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kozo Igarashi drafted the statement by incorporating things that Tomiichi Murayama had said in past speeches.

At the time of his statement, Tomiichi Murayama said he was just "stating the obvious thing".

Tomiichi Murayama did not expect that his successor, Ryutaro Hashimoto, would fully respect the statement.

The Tomiichi Murayama Statement is considered to be the official historical understanding taken by the Japanese government.

Tomiichi Murayama was heavily criticized by incumbent Prime Minister Taro Aso for straying from the view established by the Murayama Statement, and was fired, with Tamogami going on to become a significant figure for the far-right in Japan, as displayed by his run in the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election.

Fumibei Hara became the first president of the organization, and Tomiichi Murayama, after retiring as Prime Minister, became the second acting president.

Tomiichi Murayama has been developing projects related to the honor and dignity of women in general.

Sasa wrote that Tomiichi Murayama was the only one of the cabinet members who paid attention the entire time, and Sasa reprimanded the cabinet for its distracted behavior.

Sasa wrote about an anecdote where Tomiichi Murayama attempted to hold a press conference immediately after the earthquake, but was halted by Cabinet Secretariat bureaucrats.

Tomiichi Murayama directed an investigation through relevant ministers, including Minister of Justice Isao Maeda, Chair of the National Public Safety Commission Hiromu Nonaka, Commissioner of the National Police Agency Koji Kunimatsu, and Cabinet Secretary Kozo Igarashi.

Tomiichi Murayama met with Minister of Justice Hiroshi Miyazawa and Hiromu Nanaka again, who both decided decided to respect the investigation by the Public Security Intelligence Agency, paving the way for a request for punishment to the Public Safety Review Commission.

Tomiichi Murayama consulted with Chair of the National Public Safety Commission Hiromu Nonaka and Minister of Transport Shizuka Kamei, and decided that he would not engage in any negotiations with the hijacker.

Tomiichi Murayama then decided to call the Special Armed Police of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's 6th Riot Police Department, instructing they take the plane by force.

Tomiichi Murayama said after the order that If there are any casualties, I am prepared to go to the bereaved family in white clothes to apologize.

However, at a meeting before the 20th G7 summit in 1994, Tomiichi Murayama spoke in ambiguous terms about his upbringing in a poor fishing village and the process that led him to aspire to become a politician.

Tomiichi Murayama had only traveled overseas four times before, and although he was nervous about participating, he was able to get through the event without major incident.

Under Tomiichi Murayama, the Act on Promotion of Separate Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging was passed, mandating separate collection of recyclable goods and trash.

Tomiichi Murayama apologized fully to the local community for the circumstances surrounding the airport issue.

Tomiichi Murayama was a strong supporter of the introduction of the selective surname system for married couples, allowing them to keep their surnames from before marriage.

Furthermore, Tomiichi Murayama was known to be critical of the Soka Gakkai movement as a whole.

When Kotaro Tawara launched the "Shigatsu-kai", which was heavily critical of the Soka Gakkai's political activities, Tomiichi Murayama attended with the title of General Secretary of the Japan Socialist Party.

Tomiichi Murayama became the president of the Asian Women's Fund, a quasi-government body that was set up to provide compensation for former comfort women.