Hosokawa Cabinet

Hosokawa Cabinet
79th Cabinet of Japan
Date formed	August 9, 1993
Date dissolved	April 28, 1994
People and organisations
Emperor	Akihito
Prime Minister	Morihiro Hosokawa
Deputy Prime Minister	Tsutomu Hata
Member parties	Japan New Party   Japan Renewal Party   Japan Socialist Party   Kōmeitō   Democratic Socialist Party   New Party Sakigake   Socialist Democratic Federation
Status in legislature	Majority (coalition) (Lower House) 262 / 511 (51%)
Opposition parties	Liberal Democratic Party   Japanese Communist Party
Opposition leader	Yōhei Kōno (LDP)
History
Election	40th general election (1993)
Predecessor	Miyazawa Cabinet (Reshuffle)
Successor	Hata Cabinet

The Hosokawa Cabinet governed Japan from August 9, 1993, to April 28, 1994 under the premiership of Morihiro Hosokawa. In Japan, his administration is generally referred to as a representative example of non-LDP and non-JCP Coalition.

Political background

Formed in the aftermath of the 1993 general election, this cabinet was a broad based coalition of parties of both left (the JSP, SDF and DSP), right (JRP, JNP and NPS) and religious politics (Komeito). A series of defections had cost the LDP its majority before the 1993 election, after which all non-Communist opposition parties coalesced with the aim of creating the first non-LDP government in 38 years and achieving electoral reform. Despite the fact that the conservative Japan Renewal Party and the left-wing Japan Socialist Party were the largest parties in the coalition, Ichirō Ozawa (who negotiated the formation of the government) and his allies in the JRP pushed for Morihiro Hosokawa, a former governor of Kumamoto Prefecture and the leader of the small Japan New Party, to lead the government. Hosokawa was elected by the Diet on August 6, and took office as the first non-LDP Prime Minister for four decades. The Prime Minister himself was the only New Party member of the cabinet, which was mostly dominated by the JRP and the Socialists.

The coalition achieved Hosokawa's goal of electoral reform, replacing the previous system of multi-member districts with a combined system of single-member districts, elected by first past the post, and blocs of proportional representation candidates. But having achieved this, and replaced the LDP, the unifying purpose of the coalition was lost and ideological differences between the parties, especially over tax and defence policy, began to split the cabinet. Following revelations of a campaign finance scandal, Hosokawa announced his surprise resignation on April 8, 1994. After several weeks of negotiations, foreign minister Tsutomu Hata of the JRP became Prime Minister on April 28.

Election of the prime minister

August 6, 1993
Absolute majority (256/511) required

House of Representatives
Choice		First Vote
		Votes
	YMorihiro Hosokawa	262 / 511
	Yōhei Kōno	224 / 511
	Others and Abstentions (Including Speaker and Deputy)	25 / 511
Source

Ministers

  Japan New
  Renewal
  New Party Sakigake
  Komeito
  Democratic Socialist
  Socialist
  Independent
R = Member of the House of Representatives
C = Member of the House of Councillors

Cabinet of Morihiro Hosokawa from August 9, 1993, to April 28, 1994

Portfolio	Minister			Term of Office
Prime Minister		Morihiro Hosokawa	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Chief Cabinet Secretary		Masayoshi Takemura	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs		Tsutomu Hata	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Justice		Akira Mikazuki	-	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Finance		Hirohisa Fujii	R	August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Minister of Education		Ryōko Akamatsu	-	August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Minister of Health and Welfare		Keigo Ōuchi	R	August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Minister of Labour		Chikara Sakaguchi	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries		Eijiro Hata	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of International Trade and Industry		Hiroshi Kumagai	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Transport		Shigeru Itō	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Construction		Kozo Igarashi	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Home Affairs Director of the National Public Safety Commission		Kanju Sato	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications		Takenori Kanzaki	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Management and Coordination Agency		Koshiro Ishida	R	August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994
Director of the Japan Defense Agency		Keisuke Nakanishi	R	August 9, 1993 – December 1, 1993
		Kazuo Aichi	R	December 1, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the National Land Agency Director of the Hokkaido Development Agency Director of the Okinawa Development Agency Development,		Kosuke Uehara	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Economic Planning Agency		Manae Kubota	C	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Environment Agency		Wakako Hironaka	C	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Director of the Science and Technology Agency		Satsuki Eda	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994
Minister of State (in charge of political reform)		Sadao Yamahana	R	August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994

Changes

• December 1 – Defence Minister Keisuke Nakanishi resigned over controversial remarks he made related to Japan's pacifist constitution, and was replaced by Kazuo Aichi.

External links

• List of Ministers at the Kantei: Hosokawa Cabinet (in Japanese)