Yōhei Kōno

Yōhei Kōno (河野 洋平, Kōno Yōhei, born 15 January 1937) is a Japanese politician and a former President of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2003 until August 2009, when the LDP lost its majority in the 2009 election. Kōno served as speaker for the longest length since the set up of House of Representatives in 1890.

Yōhei Kōno
河野 洋平
Official portrait, 1999
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office 19 November 2003 – 21 July 2009
Monarch	Akihito
Deputy	Kansei Nakano Takahiro Yokomichi
Preceded by	Tamisuke Watanuki
Succeeded by	Takahiro Yokomichi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 5 October 1999 – 26 April 2001
Prime Minister	Keizo Obuchi Yoshiro Mori
Preceded by	Masahiko Kōmura
Succeeded by	Makiko Tanaka
In office 30 June 1994 – 11 January 1996
Prime Minister	Tomiichi Murayama
Preceded by	Koji Kakizawa
Succeeded by	Yukihiko Ikeda
Deputy Prime Minister of Japan
In office 30 June 1994 – 2 October 1995
Prime Minister	Tomiichi Murayama
Preceded by	Vacant
Succeeded by	Ryutaro Hashimoto
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
In office 9 August 1993 – 2 October 1995
Vice President	Keizō Obuchi
Secretary-General	Yoshirō Mori Hiroshi Mitsuzuka
Preceded by	Kiichi Miyazawa
Succeeded by	Ryutaro Hashimoto
Leader of the Opposition
In office 9 August 1993 – 30 June 1994
Prime Minister	Morihiro Hosokawa Tsutomu Hata
Preceded by	Sadao Yamahana
Succeeded by	Toshiki Kaifu
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office 12 December 1992 – 9 August 1993
Prime Minister	Kiichi Miyazawa
Preceded by	Koichi Kato
Succeeded by	Masayoshi Takemura
Director General of the Science and Technology Agency
In office 28 December 1985 – 22 July 1986
Prime Minister	Yasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded by	Reiichi Takeuchi
Succeeded by	Yataro Mitsubayashi
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 29 January 1967 – 21 July 2009
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Yōsuke Kamiyama
Constituency	Kanagawa 3rd (1967–1976) Kanagawa 5th (1976–1996) Kanagawa 17th (1996–2009)
Personal details
Born	(1937-01-15) 15 January 1937 Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic (before 1976; 1986–present)
Other political affiliations	New Liberal Club (1976–1986)
Children	Tarō Kōno
Parent	Ichirō Kōno (father)
Alma mater	Waseda University

He was the president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations from 1999 to 2013.

Early life and education

Kōno was born on 15 January 1937, in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, the eldest son of politician Ichirō Kōno. His father served as deputy prime minister and was in charge of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His younger uncle Kenzō Kōno served as the president of the House of Councillors from 1971 to 1977.

After graduating from Waseda University Senior High School, he studied Economics at Waseda University. Upon graduation, Kōno worked with the Marubeni company. In 1967, Kono's political career began due to the death of his father.

Political career

Kono with members of Murayama Reshuffled Cabinet (at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on 8 August 1995). Despite Murayama served as Prime Minister, Kono as leader of the LDP led the Cabinet.

He was Deputy Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1995 which he had strong influence in the Murayama Cabinet. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and Yoshirō Mori (1993-1995, 1999-2001). He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was once President of the LDP from 1993 to 1995, and to date is one of two LDP leaders, along with Sadakazu Tanigaki, to have never served as Prime Minister of Japan. As he is one of the pro-China faction of the LDP, he came under pressure domestically in the spring of 2005 when anti-Japanese movements in China became intense due to then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine which he opposed the visit to.

Kōno is known for his acknowledgement of comfort women. During his tenure as Chief Cabinet Secretary, in a speech titled the official statement he made in 1993, made after historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi announced he had discovered in the Defense Agency library in Tokyo documentary evidence that the Imperial Japanese Army established and ran comfort stations, he admitted that the Japanese Imperial Army had been involved, directly and indirectly, in the establishment of comfort stations, and that coercion had been used in the recruitment and retention of the women. His subsequent call for historical research and education aimed at remembering the issue became the basis for addressing the subject of forced prostitution in school history textbooks.