Kaifu Toshiki

Kaifu Toshiki (born January 2, 1931, Ichinomiya, Japan—died January 9, 2022, Tokyo) was a Japanese politician and government official who served as prime minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991.

The son of a photography studio owner, Kaifu graduated from Waseda University, Tokyo, in 1954. Entering politics, he won election to the House of Representatives as a member of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) in 1960 and was regularly reelected thereafter. He served as deputy chief secretary of Prime Minister Miki Takeo’s cabinet in 1974–76 and then became minister of education (1976–77) under Prime Minister Fukuda Takeo. He held this latter post again in 1985–86 under Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro.

After Prime Ministers Takeshita Noboru and Uno Sōsuke had successively resigned from office in 1989 because of financial scandals and public dissatisfaction with the governing Liberal-Democratic Party, Kaifu on August 8 was chosen to fill out Uno’s term as president of the party, and the next day he was elected by the House of Representatives to succeed the latter as prime minister. In October Kaifu was elected to a full two-year term as president of the LDP, and in February 1990 the LDP under his leadership won a sweeping victory in national elections to the House of Representatives, thereby retaining a majority in that legislative body. Kaifu declined to seek reelection to the presidency of the LDP in October 1991 after he lost the support of key party leaders, who had been angered by his efforts to reform Japanese electoral politics. His term as prime minister ended the following month.

Kaifu remained involved in politics. In 1994 he left the LDP to become leader of the Shinshintō (New Frontier Party), but, after the party disbanded in 1997, he ultimately rejoined the LDP. Kaifu, who had served in the House of Representatives for 49 years, lost his seat in the 2009 elections.