Toshio Kimura
木村 俊夫
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
16 July 1974 – 9 December 1974
Prime MinisterKakuei Tanaka
Preceded byMasayoshi Ohira
Succeeded byKiichi Miyazawa
Head of the Economic Planning Agency
In office
5 July 1971 – 7 July 1972
Prime MinisterEisaku Satō
Preceded byIchiro Sato
Succeeded byKiichi Arita
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
22 June 1967 – 30 November 1968
Prime MinisterEisaku Satō
Preceded byKenji Fukunaga
Succeeded byShigeru Hori
Personal details
Born(1909-01-15)15 January 1909
Tōin, Empire of Japan
Died1 December 1983(1983-12-01) (aged 74)
Tokyo, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
Alma materTokyo Imperial University

Toshio Kimura (木村 俊夫, Kimura Toshio, 15 January 1909 – 1 December 1983) was a Japanese politician who served as foreign minister for six months in 1974.

Early life

Kimura was born into a politically active family on 15 January 1909.[1] His father and grandfather were both lawmakers.[2]

Career

Kimura was elected to the House of Representatives for 12 times as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).[2] In addition, he served as chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Eisaku Satō.[2] He was also chairman of the Parliamentarians' League for Japan-Palestine Friendship.[2] He organized Yasser Arafat's visit to Japan in 1981.[3]

His other posts include director-general of the economic planning agency and deputy chief cabinet secretary. In 1971, Kimura served as acting foreign minister.[4] He was appointed foreign minister by Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in mid-July 1974, replacing Masayoshi Ohira in the post.[5] Kimura was in office for six months in 1974.[2] Kimura visited Africa in late October and early November 1974 which initiated a cooperation between African countries and Japan.[6][7] He was the first senior Japanese government official to visit African countries.[8] His Africa visit included Ghana, Nigeria, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Tanzania, and Egypt.[7][9] Then Kimura became head of the LDP's Asian-African Studies Group in 1977.[10]

Personal life and death

Kimura was married and had a daughter.[2] He died of a heart attack at a hospital in Tokyo on 1 December 1983 at age 74.[2]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Foreign ministers of Japan". Rulers. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Toshio Kimura Dies; Former Tokyo Official". The New York Times. Tokyo. AP. 3 December 1983. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Toshio Kimura". Toledo Blade. 1 December 1983. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  4. ^ Quansheng Zhao (2008). "Third parties in the Beijing-Tokyo negotiations: Informal political actors and mechanisms". In Jacob Bercovitch; Kwei-Bo Huang; Chung-Chian Teng (eds.). Conflict management, security and intervention in East Asia: third-party mediation in regional conflict. London; New York: Routledge. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-134-14102-9.
  5. ^ "Tanaka reshuffles Japanese cabinet". Daytona Beach Morning. Tokyo. AP. 17 July 1974. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Chapter 2. Diplomatic Efforts Made by Japan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  7. ^ a b Oda Hideo (Winter 2002). "Japan-Africa Relations in the Twenty-first Century" (PDF). Gaiko Forum: 42–46.
  8. ^ Geoffrey Murray (30 March 1981). "'Independent' Japan begins to build better ties with black Africa". The CS Monitor. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  9. ^ Jun Morikawa (1997). Japan and Africa: Big Business and Diplomacy. London: Hurst. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-85065-141-3.
  10. ^ Sueo Sudō (1992). The Fukuda Doctrine and ASEAN: New Dimensions in Japanese Foreign Policy. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian. p. 124. ISBN 978-981-3016-14-9.

External links

Media related to Toshio Kimura at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices Preceded byKenji Fukunaga Chief Cabinet Secretary 1967–1968 Succeeded byShigeru Hori Preceded byIchiro Sato Head of the Economic Planning Agency 1971–1972 Succeeded byKiichi Arita Preceded byMasayoshi Ōhira Minister for Foreign Affairs 1974 Succeeded byKiichi Miyazawa
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