Kisi, Nobusuke

Early years

Nobusuke Kisi, born Nobusuke Sato, was born in the village of Tabushi , Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the family of former official and amateur poet Hidedesuke Sato. But at an early age, he left his family and lived in a rich Kisi family, adopting their last name after the wedding. Biological brother Nobusuke - Eisaku Sato also subsequently held the post of Prime Minister of Japan and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 , and the second brother Ichiro Sato became Vice-Admiral ^[1] .

Nobusuke graduated from the Tokyo Imperial University ^[2] in 1920 , and went to work at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In 1935, he became one of the top officials involved in the industrial development of Manzhou-Guo ^[1] . In October 1941, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo , himself a former veteran of the Manchurian campaign, appointed Kishi to the post of Minister of Commerce and Industry, which he held until October 1943 . After that, he was State Minister from October 1944 until Japan surrendered in 1945 . Suspected of war crimes, and until 1948 was in custody as a suspect of class "A". However, no charges were brought against him at the Tokyo trial ^{[3] [ page not specified 755 days ]} .

Despite the withdrawal of suspicion, Kishi fell into a large group of people who were persecuted by the Allied occupation authorities in the fight against supporters of the old militarist regime, and he, like many others, was forbidden to occupy any public office. For several years, Kishi has been in business ^[1] . But in 1952, after the removal of all restrictions, Kishi returned to politics again. In 1953 he was elected to the Parliament of Japan as a member of the Liberal Party ( Jap. Nihon Dziyu:: 自由 党 :) . Later he joins the new Democratic Party ( Jap. 日本 Мин Nihon Minsyuto:) , occupies the post of general secretary there, and promotes the unification of the Liberal and Democratic parties ^[2] . In 1955, the Democratic and Liberal parties unite and choose Ichiro Hatoyamu as the head of the new Liberal Democratic Party of Japan . Subsequently, Nobusuke was Minister of Foreign Affairs in Tanzan Ishibashi’s office, and since January 31, 1957 , after Ishibashi had a stroke and became incapacitated, Nobusuke temporarily replaced him as prime minister. Already in February, Ishibashi resigns, and Kishi is elected as the new full-fledged prime minister. ^[1]

Prime Minister

As Prime Minister, Kishi pursued an underlined “pro-American” policy. Such a policy was not aimed at disrupting the idea of ​​strengthening Japan’s independence and independence. Rather, it was aimed at easing relations with the United States after Hatoyama’s rather tough policy, to return to the economically productive Yoshida Doctrine and to conclude a new, equitable security treaty ^[4] .

In the early years of Kisi, Japan entered the UN Security Council , made reparation payments to Indonesia , created a new trade treaty with Australia , and signed a peace treaty with Czechoslovakia and Poland . There is also a shift towards a rapprochement between Japan and Asian countries. In 1957, Kisi visits 6 countries of Southeast and South Asia ^[1] , here issues on reparation obligations and economic cooperation are coordinated. During these trips, Kisi first voiced the idea of ​​creating an Asian Development Fund. This was the beginning of the Japanese strategy of deep trade and economic expansion in Asia. In 1959, Kisi visits the countries of Western Europe and Latin America ^[1] .

1960 Security Treaty

In the summer of 1957, Kisi visits Washington where he manages to get the United States to create a special commission to study the question of creating a new security treaty and reducing the number of American troops in Japan. In January 1960, Kisi returned to Washington to sign a new treaty. In this regard, Kishi also initiates a draft constitutional review with a view to returning Japan to full-fledged armed forces ^[1] .

The protest movement against the signing and, in particular, against the ratification of the treaty was Japan’s largest socio-political movement in the postwar years ^[4] . After the LDP ratifies the treaty in May, taking advantage of its majority in parliament and removing opposition deputies, Protestants encounter police on the steps of the national parliament building . In the first month of the demonstrations, 500 people were injured. At first, Kishi did not take the demonstrations seriously and even called them “unimportant” and “insignificant” ^[5] .

In the summer of 1960, American President Dwight Eisenhower was to visit Japan. Kishi, in the light of the treaty just concluded, planned to turn this visit into a demonstration of Japanese-American friendship and a “new partnership” and assured that no incidents would occur. Before the president’s visit to Tokyo, the presidential spokesman James Hagerty arrived , at the airport, he was greeted by thousands of demonstrators who blocked Hagerty’s car when he tried to leave the crowd. The press secretary had to be evacuated with the help of a US military helicopter. To his embarrassment, Kisi was forced to cancel the visit. On June 23, the United States and Japan exchanged instruments of ratification, after which the treaty entered into force, on the same day Kishi's cabinet resigned.

After retiring, Kisi remains an active and influential leader of the Liberal Democratic Party ^{[3] [ page not specified 755 days ]} . Despite the fact that the amendment on the armed forces was not adopted, Kisi begins a new draft on a broader interpretation of the laws on self-defense forces , which would give them more freedom of action ^[1] .

Shintaro Abe was Kishi’s son-in-law, and his son, Shinzo Abe , the 90th Prime Minister, is Kishi’s grandson on the maternal side.

• Richard J. Samuels. Kishi and Corruption: An Anatomy of the 1955 System (Eng.) . Japan Policy Research Institute (December 2001). The date of circulation is November 5, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
• Period of President Kishi's Leadership (English) (inaccessible link) . - The site of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan . Archived February 20, 2002.