Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda dies at age 90, chairing Toyako Summit

Former Liberal Democratic Party Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda passed away on the 22nd. He was 90 years old. Born in Tokyo. He chaired the 2008 Hokkaido Toyako Summit (a meeting of leaders of major countries) and worked on measures to combat global warming, but he resigned after one year in office after suffering from a ``twisted Diet'' in which the opposition party had a majority in the House of Councilors. The wake and funeral will be held privately with only close family members present, and the official funeral will be held at a later date. The chief mourner will be Tatsuo, his eldest son and former chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's general affairs committee. The Liberal Democratic Party announced this on the 26th.

After graduating from Waseda University, he worked at Maruzen Oil (currently Cosmo Oil). After serving as secretary to his father, former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, he was first elected in the 1990 House of Representatives election from the former Gunma 3rd Ward, and has been elected seven times in a row.

He first joined the Cabinet as Chief Cabinet Secretary in the second Mori Cabinet in 2000, and was reappointed in the Koizumi Cabinet inaugurated in 2001. He was known as the ``shadow foreign minister'' for overseeing foreign and security policy, including the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, under the leadership of the prime minister's office. His tenure as chief minister was 1,289 days, the second longest in history, and he was known for being highly trusted by bureaucrats.

Following the sudden resignation of the first Abe Cabinet, he was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party in September 2007 and became the 91st prime minister. This is the first time in the history of constitutional government that two generations, a father and son, are in charge of the government. Advocating ``reforms from the people's perspective,'' the government focused its efforts on establishing a Consumer Affairs Agency, while also promoting the conversion of specific road funding into general funding. In addition to announcing the ``Fukuda Vision,'' which set out concrete measures to combat global warming, he advocated ``resonant diplomacy'' that emphasizes both strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance and diplomacy in Asia, striving to improve Japan-China relations.

In terms of government management, in November 2007, he aimed to form a ``grand coalition'' with Ichiro Ozawa, the Democratic Party's representative at the time, in order to break through the twisted Diet system, but the attempt was thwarted due to opposition within the Democratic Party. After that, the House of Councilors struggled with the offensive of the Democratic Party of Japan, which took a confrontational stance, such as when the Diet disagreed with the plan to appoint the Bank of Japan's president, and a resolution to censure the prime minister was passed in the House of Councilors. His cabinet approval rating also declined, and he resigned in September 2008.

He did not run in the 2012 House of Representatives election and retired from politics.