Yoshiro Mori
From Freepedia
Yoshiro Mori (森 喜朗 Mori Yoshirō, born July 14, 1937) is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan from April 5, 2000 to April 26, 2001. Commonly described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark," he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally inappropriate actions.
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Early political life
Yoshiro Mori was born in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, as the son of Shigeki and Kaoru Mori, wealthy rice farmers with a history in politics, as both his father and grandfather served as the mayor of Neagari, Ishikawa Prefecture. His mother died when Yoshiro was seven years old.
He studied at the Waseda University in Tokyo, joining the rugby club. Afterwards he joined the Sankei Shimbun, a very conservative newspaper in Japan. In 1962 he left the newspaper and became secretary of a Diet member, and in 1969 he was elected in the lower house at age 32. He was reelected 10 consecutive times. In 1980 he was involved in the Recruit scandal about receiving unlisted shares of Recruit Cosmos before they were publicly traded, and selling them after they were made public for a profit of approximately 1 million dollars. He was education minister in 1983 and 1984, International trade and industry minister in 1992 and 1993, and construction minister in 1995 and 1996.
Prime Minister
Mori's predecessor, Keizo Obuchi, suffered a stroke on April 2 2000 and was unable to continue this office. Therefore, Mori, who was the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), became the prime minister.
His position in Office was marred with a long list of faux-pas, unpopular decisions, PR mistakes and verbal gaffes:
- One of the earliest occurred at Obuchi's funeral, when Mori failed to clap and bow properly before Obuchi's shrine, an important portion of the Buddhist funeral rite. The other world leaders present at the funeral performed the ritual correctly.
- On meeting President Bill Clinton, he asked Clinton "Who are you?", with the intention of saying "How are you?". Since Clinton thought it was a joke, "I'm a Hillary's husband, and you?" Clinton answered to him in English. And then, Yoshiro Mori answered "Me, too".
- At a meeting of Shinto leaders in Tokyo, Mori described Japan as "a nation of gods with the Emperor at its center." This "divine nation statement" stirred up great controversy in Japan.
- Mori's biggest public relations disaster was to calmly continue a round of golf after receiving the news that the US submarine USS Greeneville had accidentally hit and sunk the Japanese fishing ship Ehime Maru during an emergency surface drill on February 9 2001, resulting in 9 dead students and teachers.
Mori was not particularly popular at any time during his term: toward the end of his term, his approval rating dropped to single digits. In fact, the people of Ishikawa, his home prefecture, referred to him as "the shame of Ishikawa" (石川の恥), partly because even though he was prime minister, he was unable to get the planned extension of the Bullet Train to run as far as Ishikawa. He was replaced by Junichiro Koizumi on April 26, 2001.
Mori remains a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Second District of Ishikawa. He is married to Chieko (born: Chieko Maki), a fellow Waseda University student, and he has a son, Yūki Mori, and a daughter, Yoko Fujimoto. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2004.
Japanese Rugby
Mori played the game of rugby union at Waseda University and developed a passion for it there, though he was never a high-level player. In June 2005 he became President of the Japan Rugby Football Union and it is hoped his clout will help secure the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup for Japan.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
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Categories: 1937 births | Japanese prime ministers | People from Ishikawa Prefecture | Padma Bhushan awardees
