Yoshiro Mori | |
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森 喜朗 | |
Mori at the British Embassy in Tokyo in June 2015.
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Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office 5 April 2000 – 26 April 2001 |
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Monarch | Akihito |
Preceded by | Mikio Aoki (acting) |
Succeeded by | Junichiro Koizumi |
Minister of Construction | |
In office 8 August 1995 – 11 January 1996 |
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Prime Minister | Tomiichi Murayama |
Preceded by | Koken Nosaka |
Succeeded by | Eiichi Nakao |
Minister of International Trade and Industry | |
In office 12 December 1992 – 20 July 1993 |
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Prime Minister | Kiichi Miyazawa |
Preceded by | Kozo Watanabe |
Succeeded by | Hiroshi Kumagai |
Minister of Education | |
In office 27 December 1983 – 1 November 1984 |
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Prime Minister | Yasuhiro Nakasone |
Preceded by | Mitsuo Setoyama |
Succeeded by | Hikaru Matsunaga |
President of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games | |
In office 2016–2020 |
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Leader | Thomas Bach |
Preceded by | Carlos Arthur Nuzman |
Personal details | |
Born |
Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan |
14 July 1937
Political party | Liberal Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Chieko Maki |
Children | Yūki Mori Yoko Fujimoto |
Alma mater | Waseda University |
Website | Yoshiro Mori WebSite |
Yoshirō Mori (森 喜朗 Mori Yoshirō?, born 14 July 1937) is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan between 5 April 2000 and 26 April 2001. Described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark," he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally inappropriate actions. He is currently President of the Japan Rugby Football Union as well as the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union. In 2014, he was appointed to head the organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Yoshiro Mori was born in present-day Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan, as the son of Shigeki and Kaoru Mori, wealthy rice farmers with a history in politics, as both his father and grandfather served as the mayor of Neagari, Ishikawa Prefecture. His mother died when Yoshiro was seven years old. He studied at the Waseda University in Tokyo, joining the rugby union club. He developed a passion for the sport but was never a high-level player; he once compared rugby to his relationship with other parties in the ruling coalition by stating: "In rugby, one person doesn't become a star, one person plays for all, and all play for one."
After university, Mori joined the Sankei Shimbun, a conservative newspaper in Japan.
In 1962, he left the newspaper and became secretary of a Diet member, and in the 1969 general election, he was elected in the lower house at age 32. He was reelected 10 consecutive times. In 1980, he was involved in the Recruit scandal about receiving unlisted shares of Recruit (company) before they were publicly traded, and selling them after they were made public for a profit of approximately 1 million dollars. He was education minister in 1983 and 1984, international trade and industry minister in 1992 and 1993, and construction minister in 1995 and 1996.