Sunao Sonoda
Sunao Sonoda | |
---|---|
Viên điền trực | |
![]() Sonoda atSchipholin July 1979 | |
Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 18 May 1981 – 30 November 1981 | |
Prime Minister | Zenkō Suzuki |
Preceded by | Masayoshi Ito |
Succeeded by | Yoshio Sakurauchi |
Minister of Health and Welfare | |
In office 19 September 1980 – 18 May 1981 | |
Prime Minister | Zenkō Suzuki |
Preceded by | Kunikichi Saitō |
Succeeded by | Tatsuo Murayama |
Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 28 November 1977 – 9 November 1979 | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Iichirō Hatoyama |
Succeeded by | Saburo Okita |
Chief Cabinet Secretary | |
In office 24 December 1976 – 28 November 1977 | |
Prime Minister | Takeo Fukuda |
Preceded by | Ichitaro Ide |
Succeeded by | Shintaro Abe |
Minister of Health and Welfare | |
In office 25 November 1967 – 30 November 1968 | |
Prime Minister | Eisaku Satō |
Preceded by | Hideo Bō |
Succeeded by | Noboru Saitō |
Personal details | |
Born | 11 December 1913 Amakusa,Kumamoto,Empire of Japan |
Died | 2 April 1984 Tokyo,Japan | (aged 70)
Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
Spouse | Tenkoko Sonoda |
Children | Hiroyuki Sonoda |
Military career | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Years of service | 1935–1945 |
Rank | Captain |
Battles/wars | Second Sino-Japanese War Second World War |
Sunao Sonoda(Viên điền trực,Sonoda Sunao,11 December 1913 – 2 April 1984)was Japanese politician of theLiberal Democratic Party(LDP) who served asminister for foreign affairsand minister of health and welfare. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan when he was in office.[1]He was one of the significant figures in normalizing the relations between Japan and China.[2]
Early life
[edit]Sonoda was born inKumamoto Prefectureon 11 December 1913.[3]
Career
[edit]Sonoda joined theJapanese armyin 1938, and served both in China and in the Pacific area duringWorld War II.[3]He was commander of akamikazesquad during the war.[1]In 1947, Sonoda was elected to theHouse of Representatives,the lower house of the Diet,[3]representing theKumamoto Prefecture.[4]He was previously a member of theDemocratic Party.Then he became a member of the LDP when the Democratic Party joined the Liberals.[3]
In the 1950s, he was the special envoy of the LDP.[5]He served as parliamentary vice-foreign minister in 1955, and actively involved in normalizing the relations between Japan andthe USSR.[3]However, in 1960, he resigned from the LDP due to his objections to the ratification of the US-Japan mutual security treaty.[3]
After rejoining the LDP, Sonoda also served as vice speaker of the lower house for two terms:[6]from 20 December 1965 to 27 December 1966 and from 15 February 1967 to 25 November 1967.[7]He served as minister of health and welfare from 1967 to 1968,[2]which he held again from 1980 to 1981.[3]
In addition, Sonoda was chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet led byTakeo Fukudafrom 24 December 1976 to 28 November 1977.[8][9]
Within the LDP Sonoda was against the Nakasone faction and formed his own.[10]He and the members of his faction joined the faction headed by Fukuda in 1972.[10][11]However, he later left it and joined the faction headed byMasayoshi Ōhira.[12]
Minister of foreign affairs
[edit]Sonoda served as minister of foreign affairs three times: in the cabinet of Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda from November 1977 to December 1978, in the cabinet of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira from December 1978 to November 1979, and in the cabinet of Prime MinisterZenko Suzukifrom 17 May to 30 November 1981.[13]
During his first term in the ministry of foreign affairs, Japan signed thetreaty of peace and friendshipwith China.[14]This treaty formed the basis of the relationships between two countries.[1]Sonoda represented his country at the signature of this treaty inBeijingin 1978.[2]He was secondly appointed foreign minister to the cabinet of Masayoshi Ohira who kept this and other three ministries for his own faction.[12]When in office for the second time, Sonoda visited five African countries in July 1979, includingTanzania,Nigeria,Kenya,Ivory CoastandSenegal.[15]He also traveledSouth Americain August 1979.[16]
On 17 May 1981, Sonoda was appointed by Prime Minister and his close friend Zenko Suzuki as foreign minister for the last time due to unexpected resignation of the former Foreign MinisterMasayoshi Ito.[17][18]Sonoda called for adopting the omnidirectional diplomacy and unlike his two predecessors, issued entry visas to Soviet economic delegations.[18]He was replaced byYoshio Sakurauchiin the post 30 November 1981.[19]The reason for Sonoda's removal from his post was his blunt remarks concerning U.S. policies in June 1981 as well as his other statements detrimental to Japan's relations withSouth Korea.[20]
Personal life
[edit]Sunao Sonoda married twice. His son from the first marriage,Hiroyuki Sonoda,ran for his father seat in the Kumamoto Prefecture in the general elections of 1986.[4]Sonoda'a second wife,Tenkoko Sonoda,also tried to take over her husband's seat in the same election following his death.[4]She was a member of theDietduring her marriage to Sunao.[21]They married after World War II[22]and had two children.[21]
Death
[edit]Sonoda died of kidney failure at the hospital ofKeio Universityin Tokyo on 2 April 1984.[13]
Honours
[edit]National honour
[edit]- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun(2 April 1984; posthumous)
Foreign honour
[edit]- Bolivia:Grand Cross of the Order of the Condor of the Andes(6 July 1978)
- Chile:Grand Cross of the Order of the Bernardo O'Higgins(21 August 1979)
References
[edit]- ^abc"Former Japanese minister Sonoda".Montreal Gazette.3 April 1984.Retrieved2 January2013.
- ^abcLouis Frédéric,ed. (2002).Japan Encyclopedia.Cambridge, MA; London:Harvard University Press.p. 902.ISBN978-0-674-01753-5.
- ^abcdefg"Sonoda, Sunao".Rulers.Retrieved9 January2013.
- ^abcSam Jameson (4 July 1986)."Family Connections Growing in Importance in Japanese Politics".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2 January2013.
- ^Eugene Kramer (4 September 1956)."Japanese diplomat paced famed deck 11 years ago".Spokane Daily Chronicle.Tokyo.Retrieved2 January2013.
- ^Kanako Tahara (25 May 2002)."Secret funds have oiled wheels for decades".The Japan Times.Retrieved6 January2013.
- ^"The National Diet of Japan"(PDF).Secretariat of the House of Representatives.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 October 2013.Retrieved14 October2013.
- ^Peter J. Herzog (1993).Japan's Pseudo-Democracy.Kent: Japan Library. p. 110.ISBN978-1-873410-07-3.
- ^Janet Hunter, ed. (1984).Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History.Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA; London:University of California Press.p. 322.ISBN978-0-520-04557-6.
- ^abJunnosuke Masumi (1995).Contemporary Politics in Japan.Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA; London:University of California Press.p. 214.ISBN978-0-520-05854-5.
- ^John Slee (8 December 1978)."New Japanese PM takes over".The Sydney Morning Herald.Tokyo.Retrieved31 May2013.
- ^abDonald W. Klein (January 1979). "Japan 1978: The Consensus Continues".Asian Survey.19(1): 30–40.doi:10.2307/2643652.JSTOR2643652.
- ^ab"Ex-Japanese Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda".The Daytona Beach News-Journal.2 April 1984.Retrieved2 January2013.
- ^"Sunao Sonoda, foreign minister".Evening Independent.Tokyo.Associated Press.2 April 1984.Retrieved2 January2013.
- ^Jun Morikawa (1997).Japan and Africa: Big Business and Diplomacy.London: Hurst & Company. p. 83.ISBN978-1-85065-141-3.
- ^Japan Report (1979) Vol. XXV, No. 18, p. 1.
- ^Henry Scott Stokes (17 May 1981)."Japan replaces foreign minister in rift over U.S."The New York Times.p. 1.
- ^abHiroshi Kimura (2000).Distant Neighbours: Japanese-Russian relations under Brezhnev and Andropov.Vol. 2. Armonk, NY; London: M.E. Sharpe. p. 228.ISBN978-0-7656-0585-6.
- ^"Japan's cabinet shuffled".Spokane Daily Chronicle.Tokyo.United Press International.30 November 1981.Retrieved1 January2013.
- ^Geoffrey Murray (1 December 1981)."Japanese Cabinet shaken up to tackle big problems".The Christian Science Monitor.Retrieved6 January2013.
- ^abYumi Wijers-Hasegawa (18 August 2006)."Pioneer for women seeks home for peace dolls".The Japan Times.Retrieved2 January2013.
- ^Sayuri Daimon (20 December 2007)."A long life of peace that sprung from war".The Japan Times.Retrieved2 January2013.
External links
[edit]Media related toSunao Sonodaat Wikimedia Commons
- 20th-century Japanese politicians
- 1913 births
- 1984 deaths
- Deaths from kidney failure in Japan
- Foreign ministers of Japan
- Imperial Japanese Army officers
- Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II
- Kamikaze pilots
- Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
- Members of the House of Representatives (Japan)
- Politicians from Kumamoto Prefecture
- Sonoda family
- Spouses of Japanese politicians