Hashimoto, Ryutaro

He graduated from Keio University , where he studied as a political scientist. In 1963 he became a member of the Japanese parliament . In 1989, he became Minister of Finance, and in 1994, he became Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry. In September 1995, he was elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan ^[2] .

Hashimoto led the Japanese government from 1996 to 1998. In the field of foreign policy, an intensification of dialogue with Russia was noted at that time. At the talks with Boris Yeltsin, Hashimoto stated that Russia and Japan needed a peace treaty, but at the same time, a peace treaty could not be concluded without solving the border problem. At the same time, the Japanese prime minister himself noted that he had never uttered words about the return of the northern territories ^[3] .

In 1998, Hashimoto resigned, which was caused by the unsuccessful appearance of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan in the elections to the upper house of parliament ^[4] . He was replaced by Keizo Obuchi as Prime Minister. From 2000 to 2001 . Hashimoto served as Minister of State in Yoshiro Mori’s office, managing administrative reform issues. After Mori’s resignation in 2001, he again ran for the LDP leader, but lost the inner-party elections of Junichiro Koizumi ^[5] .

In 2002, he underwent a complex heart operation, after which he was not able to fully recover. Hashimoto died on July 1, 2006, at the 69th year of his life in Tokyo ^[4] .