Morihiro Hosokawa
Morihiro Hosokawa | |
|---|---|
細川 護熙 | |
Official portrait, 1993 | |
| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 9 August 1993 – 28 April 1994 | |
| Monarch | Akihito |
| Preceded by | Kiichi Miyazawa |
| Succeeded by | Tsutomu Hata |
| Leader of the New Party | |
| In office 22 May 1992 – 9 December 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Succeeded by | Party abolished |
| Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture | |
| In office 11 February 1983 – 10 February 1991 | |
| Monarchs | Hirohito Akihito |
| Preceded by | Issei Sawada |
| Succeeded by | Joji Fukushima |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 18 July 1993 – 7 May 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Shōichi Tanaka |
| Succeeded by | Eiichi Iwashita |
| Constituency | Former Kumamoto 1st (1993–1996) Kumamoto 1st (1996–1998) |
| Member of the House of Councillors | |
| In office 26 July 1992 – 4 July 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Keizō Kojima |
| Constituency | National PR |
| In office 4 July 1971 – 11 February 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Masaru Urata |
| Constituency | National district (1971–1977) Kumamoto at-large (1977–1983) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 January 1938 |
| Party | Democratic (1998–2016) |
| Other political affiliations | LDP (until 1992) JNP (1992–1994) NFP (1994–1997) From Five (1997–1998) GGP (1998) |
| Spouse |
Kayoko Ueda (m. 1971) |
| Children | 3 (including Morimitsu) |
| Relatives | Tadateru Konoe (brother) |
| Alma mater | Sophia University |
| Signature | |
Morihiro Hosokawa (細川 護煕, Hosokawa Morihiro; born 14 January 1938) is a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) premier since 1955.
Born to the Hosokawa family, which ruled present-day Kumamoto Prefecture from the 17th to the 19th centuries, Hosokawa is also a grandson of Prince Fumimaro Konoe through his mother. He 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, Hosokawa left the LDP to found the reformist Japan New Party, which won 35 seats in the 1993 general election. The LDP lost its governing majority, which was replaced by an eight-party coalition led by Hosokawa. He initiated electoral reforms before Tsutomu Hata's Japan Renewal Party took over leadership of the coalition in 1994. Hosokawa joined the New Frontier Party in 1996 and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in 1998 before retiring from politics. He unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Tokyo in 2014.
Since his father's death in 2005, he has been the 18th head of the main branch of Hosokawa clan, which held the title of Lord of Higo and marquess. Since retiring from politics, he has been active as a potter and tea master.