Kichirō Tazawa

Kichirō Tazawa (田沢 吉郎, Tazawa Kichirō, 1918 – 12 December 2001) was a Japanese politician. He held different cabinet posts and served as defense minister from 1988 to 1989.

Kichirō Tazawa
田澤 吉郎
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office 24 August 1988 – 3 June 1989
Prime Minister	Noboru Takeshita
Preceded by	Tsutomu Kawara
Succeeded by	Taku Yamasaki
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
In office 30 November 1981 – 26 November 1982
Prime Minister	Zenko Suzuki
Preceded by	Takao Kameoka
Succeeded by	Iwazo Kaneko
Head of the National Land Agency
In office 24 December 1976 – 28 November 1977
Prime Minister	Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by	Kosei Amano
Succeeded by	Yoshio Sakurauchi
Personal details
Born	1 January 1918 Inakadate, Empire of Japan
Died	12 December 2001 (aged 83) Hirosaki
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater	Waseda University

Early life

Tazawa was born in 1918.[1][2] He was a native of Inakadate, Aomori Prefecture.[3][2]

Career

Tazawa was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[4] He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1960 and served there until 1996 when he lost his seat in the election.[4] From 24 December 1976 to 28 November 1977 he was the director of national land agency.[5]

He was appointed minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries on 30 November 1981 in a cabinet reshuffle and succeeded Takeo Kameoka in the post.[6] The cabinet was headed by Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki.[6] Tazawa was in office until 26 November 1982.[6] He was appointed Minister of State, Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency (today defense minister) on 24 August 1988 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita.[1][7] He replaced Tsutomu Kawara in the post who resigned from office.[8] Tazawa retained his post in the late December 1988 reshuffle.[7] He was in office until 3 June 1989 when Taku Yamasaki was appointed to the post.[1] Then he retired from politics and was appointed president of Hirosaki Gakuin University.[4] He served in the post until his death.[4]

Personal life and death

Tazawa's wife managed a large farm in Aomori which is one of the significant agricultural and fishing regions in Japan.[3] Tazawa died of esophagus cancer at a hospital in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, on 12 December 2001.[9]

References

1. "Japanese ministries". Rulers. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
2. "田沢 吉郎". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 January 2015.
3. "US stake in Japanese trade; How Japan's farmers block imports". The CS Monitor. 25 March 1982. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
4. "Ex-LDP politician Tazawa dies at 83". Japan Policy & Politics. 13 December 2001. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
5. Janet Hunter (January 1984). Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. University of California Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-520-04390-9.
6. "Cabinet". Colombus. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
7. "Cabinet shuffled in Japan". Chicago Sun Times. 28 December 1988. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
8. "Japan's Military Chief Quits". Los Angeles Times. 25 August 1988. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
9. "Obituary: Kichiro Tazawa". The Japan Times. 14 December 2001. Retrieved 15 October 2013.