Yukio Hatoyama
Prime Minister of Japan
Incumbent Assumed office
16 September 2009
Monarch: Akihito
Deputy: Naoto Kan
Preceded by : Taro Aso
Member of the Japanese House of Representatives
for the 9th Hokkaidō District
Incumbent Assumed office
23 June 1986
Born : 11 February 1947 (age 62)
Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
Political
party : Democratic Party (1998–present)
Other political
affiliations : Liberal Democratic Party (Before 1993)
New Party Sakigake (1993–1996)
Democratic Party (1996–1998)
Spouse(s): Miyuki Hatoyama (1975–present)
Children: Kiichiro Hatoyama
Alma mater: University of Tokyo
Stanford University
Profession : Engineer, Professor, Politician
Religion : Baptist
Website: http://www.hatoyama.gr.jp/
Yukio Hatoyama ( Hatoyama Yukio?, born 11 February 1947) is a Japanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Japan since September 2009. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoyama became President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the main opposition party, in May 2009. He then led the party to victory in the August 2009 general election, defeating the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He represents the 9th district of Hokkaidō in the House of Representatives.
Hatoyama is only the second Japanese Prime Minister to be born after the end of World War II; the first was Shinzō Abe.
Early life and family
Hatoyama comes from a prominent Japanese political family which has been called the “Kennedy family of Japan.”[1]
Hatoyama, who was born in Bunkyō, Tokyo, is a fourth generation politician. His paternal great-grandfather, Kazuo Hatoyama, was speaker of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan from 1896 to 1897 during the Meiji era.[2] Kazuo later served as the president of Waseda University.[2] His paternal great-grandmother, Haruko Hatoyama, was a co-founder of what is known today as Kyoritsu Women’s University. His paternal grandfather, Ichirō Hatoyama, was a major politician; he served as Prime Minister and was a founder and the first President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Jiyū-Minshutō?, 1954–1955). As Prime Minister, he restored diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, which cleared the way for Japan’s membership in the United Nations.[2]
Hatoyama is the son of Iichirō Hatoyama, who was Foreign Minister for a time. His mother, Yasuko Hatoyama, is a daughter of Shojiro Ishibashi, the founder of Bridgestone Corporation and heir to his significant inheritance.[1] Yasuko Hatoyama is known as the “Godmother” within the Japanese political world for her financial contributions to both of her sons’ political ambitions.[2] In particular, Yasuko donated billions of yen when Kunio and Yukio co-created the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in 1996 to help establish her sons’ fledgling political party.[2]
His younger brother, Kunio Hatoyama, served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications under Prime Minister Taro Aso until 12 June 2009.
Hatoyama graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1969 and received a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University in 1976.[3] He met his wife, Miyuki Hatoyama, while studying at Stanford.[2] The couple married in 1975 after she divorced her previous husband.[1] The couple’s son, Kiichiro, is a visiting engineering researcher at Moscow State University.[2]
Hatoyama worked as a research assistant at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and later moved to Senshu University and was promoted to assistant professor.
