Sunao Sonoda Explained

Native Name Lang:ja
Office5:Minister of Health and Welfare
Primeminister5:Eisaku Satō
Term Start5:25 November 1967
Term End5:30 November 1968
Predecessor5:Hideo Bō
Successor5:Noboru Saitō
Office4:Chief Cabinet Secretary
Primeminister4:Takeo Fukuda
Term Start4:24 December 1976
Term End4:28 November 1977
Predecessor4:Ichitaro Ide
Successor4:Shintaro Abe
Office2:Minister for Foreign Affairs
Term Start2:28 November 1977
Term End2:9 November 1979
Predecessor2:Iichirō Hatoyama
Successor2:Saburo Okita
Office1:Minister of Health and Welfare
Primeminister1:Zenkō Suzuki
Term Start1:19 September 1980
Term End1:18 May 1981
Predecessor1:Kunikichi Saitō
Successor1:Tatsuo Murayama
Office:Minister for Foreign Affairs
Primeminister:Zenkō Suzuki
Term Start:18 May 1981
Term End:30 November 1981
Predecessor:Masayoshi Ito
Successor:Yoshio Sakurauchi
Birth Date:11 December 1913
Birth Place:Amakusa, Kumamoto, Empire of Japan
Death Place:Tokyo, Japan
Party:Liberal Democratic Party
Spouse:Tenkoko Sonoda
Children:Hiroyuki Sonoda
Module:
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Serviceyears:1935–1945

was Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who served as minister for foreign affairs and minister of health and welfare. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan when he was in office.[1] He was one of the significant figures in normalizing the relations between Japan and China.[2]

Early life

Sonoda was born in Kumamoto Prefecture on 11 December 1913.[3]

Career

Sonoda joined the Japanese army in 1938, and served both in China and in the Pacific area during World War II.[3] He was commander of a kamikaze squad during the war.[1] In 1947, Sonoda was elected to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet,[3] representing the Kumamoto Prefecture. He was previously a member of the Democratic Party. Then he became a member of the LDP when the Democratic Party joined the Liberals.[3]

In the 1950s, he was the special envoy of the LDP.[4] He served as parliamentary vice-foreign minister in 1955, and actively involved in normalizing the relations between Japan and the USSR.[3] However, in 1960, he resigned from the LDP due to his objections to the ratification of the US-Japan mutual security treaty.[3]

After rejoining the LDP, Sonoda also served as vice speaker of the lower house for two terms:[5] from 20 December 1965 to 27 December 1966 and from 15 February 1967 to 25 November 1967.[6] He served as minister of health and welfare from 1967 to 1968,[2] which he held again from 1980 to 1981.[3]

In addition, Sonoda was chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet led by Takeo Fukuda from 24 December 1976 to 28 November 1977.[7] [8]

Within the LDP Sonoda was against the Nakasone faction and formed his own.[9] He and the members of his faction joined the faction headed by Fukuda in 1972.[9] [10] However, he later left it and joined the faction headed by Masayoshi Ōhira.[11]

Minister of foreign affairs

Sonoda served as minister of foreign affairs three times: in the cabinet of Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda from November 1977 to December 1978, in the cabinet of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira from December 1978 to November 1979, and in the cabinet of Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki from 17 May to 30 November 1981.[12]

During his first term in the ministry of foreign affairs, Japan signed the treaty of peace and friendship with China.[13] This treaty formed the basis of the relationships between two countries.[1] Sonoda represented his country at the signature of this treaty in Beijing in 1978.[2] He was secondly appointed foreign minister to the cabinet of Masayoshi Ohira who kept this and other three ministries for his own faction.[11] When in office for the second time, Sonoda visited five African countries in July 1979, including Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Senegal.[14] He also traveled South America in August 1979.[15]

On 17 May 1981, Sonoda was appointed by Prime Minister and his close friend Zenko Suzuki as foreign minister for the last time due to unexpected resignation of the former Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ito.[16] [17] Sonoda called for adopting the omnidirectional diplomacy and unlike his two predecessors, issued entry visas to Soviet economic delegations.[17] He was replaced by Yoshio Sakurauchi in the post 30 November 1981.[18] The reason for Sonoda's removal from his post was his blunt remarks concerning U.S. policies in June 1981 as well as his other statements detrimental to Japan's relations with South Korea.[19]

Personal life

Sunao Sonoda married twice. His son from the first marriage, Hiroyuki Sonoda, ran for his father seat in the Kumamoto Prefecture in the general elections of 1986.[20] Sonoda'a second wife, Tenkoko Sonoda, also tried to take over her husband's seat in the same election following his death.[20] She was a member of the Diet during her marriage to Sunao.[21] They married after World War II[22] and had two children.[21]

Death

Sonoda died of kidney failure at the hospital of Keio University in Tokyo on 2 April 1984.[12]

Honours

National honour

Foreign honour

External links

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Notes and References

  1. News: Former Japanese minister Sonoda. Montreal Gazette. 2 January 2013. 3 April 1984.
  2. Book: Louis Frédéric. Japan Encyclopedia. 2002. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-01753-5. 902. Louis Frédéric. Cambridge, MA; London.
  3. Web site: Sonoda, Sunao. Rulers. 9 January 2013.
  4. News: Eugene Kramer. Japanese diplomat paced famed deck 11 years ago. 2 January 2013. Spokane Daily Chronicle. 4 September 1956. Tokyo.
  5. News: Kanako Tahara. Secret funds have oiled wheels for decades. 6 January 2013. The Japan Times. 25 May 2002.
  6. Web site: The National Diet of Japan. Secretariat of the House of Representatives. 14 October 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131018040041/http://www.shugiin.go.jp/itdb_english.nsf/html/statics/english/kokkaiannai_e.pdf/$File/kokkaiannai_e.pdf. 18 October 2013. dmy-all.
  7. Book: Peter J. Herzog. Japan's Pseudo-Democracy. 1993. Japan Library. 978-1-873410-07-3. 110. Kent.
  8. Book: Janet Hunter. Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. 1984. University of California Press. 978-0-520-04557-6. 322. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA; London.
  9. Book: Junnosuke Masumi. Contemporary Politics in Japan. 1995. University of California Press. 978-0-520-05854-5. 214. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA; London.
  10. News: John Slee. New Japanese PM takes over. 31 May 2013. The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 December 1978. Tokyo.
  11. Donald W. Klein. Japan 1978: The Consensus Continues. Asian Survey. January 1979. 19. 1. 30–40. 2643652. 10.2307/2643652.
  12. News: Ex-Japanese Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda. 2 January 2013. The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 2 April 1984.
  13. News: Sunao Sonoda, foreign minister. 2 January 2013. Evening Independent. 2 April 1984. Associated Press. Tokyo.
  14. Book: Jun Morikawa. Japan and Africa: Big Business and Diplomacy. 1997. Hurst & Company. 978-1-85065-141-3. 83. London.
  15. Japan Report (1979) Vol. XXV, No. 18, p. 1.
  16. News: Henry Scott Stokes. Japan replaces foreign minister in rift over U.S.. The New York Times. 1. 17 May 1981.
  17. Book: Hiroshi Kimura. Distant Neighbours: Japanese-Russian relations under Brezhnev and Andropov. 2000. M.E. Sharpe. 978-0-7656-0585-6. 2. 228. Armonk, NY; London.
  18. News: Japan's cabinet shuffled. Spokane Daily Chronicle. 1 January 2013. 30 November 1981. United Press International. Tokyo.
  19. News: Geoffrey Murray. Japanese Cabinet shaken up to tackle big problems. 6 January 2013. The Christian Science Monitor. 1 December 1981.
  20. News: Sam Jameson. Family Connections Growing in Importance in Japanese Politics. 2 January 2013. Los Angeles Times. 4 July 1986.
  21. News: Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa. Pioneer for women seeks home for peace dolls. 2 January 2013. The Japan Times. 18 August 2006.
  22. News: Sayuri Daimon. A long life of peace that sprung from war. 2 January 2013. The Japan Times. 20 December 2007.