Tanzan Ishibashi | |
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石橋 湛山 | |
Ishibashi in December 1958
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36th Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office 23 December 1956 – 31 January 1957 |
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Monarch | Shōwa |
Preceded by | Ichirō Hatoyama |
Succeeded by | Nobusuke Kishi |
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications | |
In office 23 December 1956 – 27 December 1956 |
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Preceded by | Isamu Murakami |
Succeeded by | Taro Hirai |
Minister of International Trade and Industry | |
In office 10 December 1954 – 23 December 1956 |
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Prime Minister | Ichirō Hatoyama |
Preceded by | Kiichi Aichi |
Succeeded by | Mikio Mizuta |
Minister of Finance | |
In office 22 May 1946 – 24 May 1947 |
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Prime Minister | Shigeru Yoshida |
Preceded by | Keizo Shibusawa |
Succeeded by | Tetsu Katayama (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Tokyo, Japan |
25 September 1884
Died | 25 April 1973 Osaka, Japan |
(aged 88)
Political party | Liberal Democratic Party (1955–1973) |
Other political affiliations |
Socialist Party (1945–1955) |
Alma mater | Waseda University |
Signature |
Tanzan Ishibashi (石橋 湛山 Ishibashi Tanzan, 25 September 1884 – 25 April 1973) was a Japanese journalist and politician. Being a member of Nichiren-shū, the name Tanzan is a religious name, as his profane name was Seizō (省三). He was the 55th Prime Minister of Japan from 23 December 1956 to 25 February 1957. During the same time he was the 2nd president of the Liberal Democratic Party, the majority party in the Diet. From 1952 to 1968 he was also the president of Rissho University.
He was born in Tokyo and graduated from Waseda University. He worked as a journalist at the Mainichi Shimbun for a while. After he finished military service, he joined "Toyo Keizai Shimpo" (Eastern Economic Journal) and later he became its president in 1941. He wrote about Japanese financial policy and had arguments with Inoue Junnosuke. Ishibashi had a liberal political view and espoused the Small Japan policy; the core opinion of his Small Japan policy was the abandonment of Manchuria.
After World War II he received some political offers. The Japan Socialist Party offered to make him a candidate. Ishibashi became the minister of Finance under the first cabinet of Shigeru Yoshida from 1946 to 1947. In 1947 he was purged and forced to resign after openly opposing US General MacArthur's policies. After his purge was repealed in 1951, he allied with Ichirō Hatoyama and joined the movement against Yoshida's cabinet. In 1953 Ishibashi was appointed to minister of Industry by Hatoyama who became the prime minister. In 1955 the Liberal Democratic Party was formed and Ishibashi joined it.