is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2021. He was the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Japanese history, having previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2003 to 2005. He leads the Shikōkai faction within the LDP.
Asō was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1979. He served in numerous ministerial roles before becoming Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2008, having also held that role temporarily in 2007."Official English Translations for LDP Officials and Party Organs", Liberal Democratic Party. He was later elected LDP President in September 2008, becoming prime minister the same month. He led the LDP to the worst election result in its history a year later, marking only the second time in post-war Japan that a governing party had lost re-election, and resigned as the President of the party immediately afterwards.
After the LDP returned to government following the 2012 election under Shinzo Abe, Asō was appointed to the Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, retaining those roles when Yoshihide Suga replaced Abe in 2020.Daily Yomiuri After leaving cabinet, he's served as vice president of the LDP under Fumio Kishida and as senior advisor to the LDP under Shigeru Ishiba. He is a noted power broker inside the party, leading the Shikōkai.
Asō has been attached to a number of controversies in his career. He conceded in 2008 that his family had benefitted from forced labor during World War II, although he has refused to apologize for it. Asō also had a reputation for political gaffes and controversial remarks.
Family and early life Taro Asō was born in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture on 20 September 1940, as the eldest son of Takakichi Asō and his wife Kazuko. The Asō family was one of the leading business families in Kyushu, going back to Asō's great grandfather Takichi Asō, who established himself as a coal mining magnate in the Meiji era. Takakichi Asō took over the family company after Takichi as a young man in the 1930s.
Kazuko was the daughter of the diplomat Shigeru Yoshida, who served as prime minister from 1946 to 1947, and 1948 to 1954. He is also by marriage related to Sato Eisaku, who served as prime minister from 1964 to 1974. Through his maternal grandmother, Aso is also a descendant of the Meiji statesman Toshimichi Okubo, considered one of the founders of modern Japan.
Asō initially attended an elementary school affiliated with the Aso Group, but in his third year of elementary school he transferred to Gakushuin in Tokyo, the traditional school for children of the aristocracy. He graduated from Gakushuin University in 1963. He took the employment examination for the Sankei Shimbun, but decided to continue his studied overseas instead. Asō attended Stanford University in California, but later dropped out. By his own account, his anglophile grandfather Shigeru Yoshida, who had come to see him in connection to attending the funeral of General Douglas MacArthur, was displeased with him acquiring a "lousy Californian accent," leading to him being ordered by his family to study in Britain instead. He consequently transferred to the London School of Economics.japan.kantei.go.jp/97_abe/meibo/daijin/1208723_10042.html
Business career In 1966, after he returned to Japan from his studies abroad, he entered the Aso Industry Company. Working for the company, he lived in Brazil during the 1960s and became fluent in Portuguese.Article on O Estado de S. Paulo, 26 September 2008.
For two years from 1970, Asō worked in the diamond mining industry in Sierra Leone as a local representative of the Asō family, at a new mining area offered by a local authority after the nationalization of the diamond industry in the country. He was forced to return to Japan at the outbreak of civil unrest in Sierra Leone.
Asō served as president of the Aso Mining Company from 1973 to 1979. He was also a member of the Japanese shooting team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and President of the Japan Junior Chamber in 1978.
Political career
Early political career Asō was first elected to the House of Representative in the 1979 election, as a LDP candidate in Fukuoka 3rd district. He handed over leadership of the family business to his brother Yutaka upon taking office. Asō joined the Kochikai, a political faction deriving from the legacy of his grandfather Shigeru Yoshida.
When he was a junior Diet member, Asō met Chikako, the daughter of Prime Minister Zenkō Suzuki, at a dinner party hosted by Suzuki. Asō and Chikako Suzuki were married in November 3, 1983.
Cabinet Minister Asō received his first cabinet position as Minister of State and Director General of the Economic Planning Agency under Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in November 1996 and served until September 1997.
Although Asō was a member of the Kochikai, he was on bad terms with Koichi Kato, who was considered the "prince of the Kochikai" at the time. He participated in a factional defection led by Yohei Kono after Kato succeeded Kiichi Miyazawa as head of the Kochikai in 1998.
He joined the Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi in 2003 as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. On 31 October 2005, he became Minister for Foreign Affairs. There has been some speculation that his position in the Cabinet was due to his membership in the Kōno Group, an LDP caucus led by pro-Chinese lawmaker Yōhei Kōno: by appointing Asō as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Koizumi may have been attempting to "rein in" Kōno's statements critical of Japanese foreign policy.Hideo Hamada, "The Diet Now: Containment and Division" , Janjan.jp, 1 November 2005.
Candidate for the LDP Leadership Asō was one of the final candidates to replace Koizumi as prime minister in 2006, but lost the internal party election to Shinzo Abe by a wide margin. Both Abe and Asō are conservative on foreign policy issues and have taken confrontational stances towards some East Asian nations, particularly North Korea and, to a lesser extent, the People's Republic of China. Abe was considered a more "moderate" politician than the more "hard-line" Asō, and led Asō in opinion polling within Japan., Coming Anarchy, 1 November 2005. Asō's views on multilateralism are suggested in a 2006 speech, "Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan's Expanding Diplomatic Horizons".Calder, Kent E. and Francis Fukuyama. (2008). East Asian Multilateralism: Prospects for Regional Stability, pp. 179–180.
Asō acknowledged that he would most likely lose to Fukuda, but said that he wanted to run so that there would be an open election, saying that otherwise LDP would face criticism for making its choice "through back-room deals"."Former FM Aso acknowledges probable defeat in Japan's leadership race", from The Associated Press on International Herald Tribune, 16 September 2007. In the President election, held on 23 September, Fukuda defeated Asō, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Asō."Fukuda Chosen to Replace Abe as Japan's Prime Minister", VOANews.com, 23 September 2007., The Daily Yomiuri, 23 September 2007.
On 1 August 2008, Fukuda appointed Asō as Secretary-General of LDP, a move that solidified Asō's position as the number two-man in the party., The Yomiuri Shimbun, 2 August 2008.
Prime Minister of Japan
Unexpectedly on 1 September 2008, Fukuda announced his resignation as prime minister."Fukuda announces resignation as prime minister of Japan", The Mainichi Daily News, The Mainichi, 1 September 2008. Five LDP members including Asō ran for new party President to succeed Fukuda. On 21 September, one day before votes of Diet party members, Asō reportedly told a crowd of supporters outside Tokyo: "The greatest concern right now is the economy." "America is facing a financial crisis ... we must not allow that to bring us down as well."Joseph Coleman, "Japan ruling party turns to brash Aso", The Associated Press, 22 September 2008. Finally on 22 September, Asō did win. He was elected as President of LDP with 351 of 525 votes (217 from 384 Diet party members, 134 from 47 prefecture branches); Kaoru Yosano, Yuriko Koike, Nobuteru Ishihara, Shigeru Ishiba got 66, 46, 37, 25 votes respectively."党のあゆみ・総裁選挙", Liberal Democratic Party. クローズアップ2008：自民新総裁に麻生氏 総選挙へ切り札 , 毎日新聞: Osaka – Evening edition, The Mainichi, 23 September 2008. "Conservative Aso chosen as Japan PM" , AFP, 22 September 2008.
Two days later on 24 September, Asō was designated by the Diet as prime minister, and was formally appointed to the office by the Emperor on that night. In the House of Representatives (lower house), he garnered 337 out of 478 votes cast; in the House of Councillors (upper house), Ichirō Ozawa, President"About us", The Democratic Party of Japan. of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, was named through two times of ballots."LDP President Aso elected prime minister", The Mainichi Daily News, The Mainichi Newspapers, 24 September 2008. 5TH LD: Aso elected Japan's prime minister, to form Cabinet, Kyodo News International (24 September 2008). Because no agreement was reached at a joint committee of both Houses, the resolution of the House of Representatives became the resolution of the Diet, as is stipulated in the Constitution."The Constitution of Japan" . Translation (presumably of non-official) available on the Cabinet PR site. Asō reportedly said, "If you look at the current period, it's not a stable one." and "These are turbulent times with the financial situation and everything else.""Japan ruling party leader elected prime minister", from The Associated Press on The Washington Post, 24 September 2008.
Later on the same day as his election as prime minister, Asō personally announced his new Cabinet (this is normally done by the Chief Cabinet Secretary). His Cabinet was markedly different from the preceding Cabinet under Fukuda. Five of its members had never previously served in the Cabinet, and one of them, 34-year-old Yūko Obuchi, was the youngest member of the Cabinet in the post-war era."Aso elected premier / Announces Cabinet lineup himself; poll likely on Nov. 2", The Yomiuri Shimbun, 25 September 2005.
Prime Minister Asō flew to Washington to meet with United States President Barack Obama in February 2009. He was the first foreign leader to visit the Obama White House; however, reports suggested that the new administration was interested less in giving Asō a political boost than in sending a message that Japan continues to be an important ally and partnerKlug, Foster. "Obama to meet with Japan Prime Minister Tara Aso," Associated Press. 24 February 2009; Fackler, Martin. "Japan's Ruling Party Faces Political Extinction," New York Times. 19 February 2009; Landler, Mark and Martin Fackler. 'Clinton Offers Words of Reassurance While in Japan," New York Times. 17 February 2009; – a low-risk, high-payoff gesture for both Asō and Obama.Harden, Blaine. "Japan's Beleaguered Leader to See Obama," The Washington Post. 24 February 2009.