Ken Harada (politician)

Ken Harada (原田 憲, Harada Ken, February 12, 1919 – January 29, 1997) was a member of the Diet of Japan from the Liberal Democratic Party[1] until resigning his office on January 24, 1989[2] following alleged involvement in the Recruit scandal, where Harada admitted Recruit had given him donations, in the form of seasonal summer gifts,[3] for ten years.[4] While the donations were not illegal, they raised questions of political ethics which eventually led Harada to resign.[3] As a member of the Diet, Harada served as Minister of Economic Planning, and earned the close trust of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita.[5] He was the third minister to resign over the scandal.[2] Harada had been appointed to direct the Ministry of Economic Planning only one month before his resignation.[6][7] After party officials had already placed him as the chair of a committee in charge of investigating the Recruit stock scandal,[8] where he had concluded that nothing illegal had taken place.[9] In 1992, Harada backed Keizō Obuchi as new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.[10] Kōichirō Aino replaced Harada as Minister of Economic Planning.[3]

Ken Harada
原田 憲
Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency
In office 27 December 1988 – 25 January 1989
Prime Minister	Noboru Takeshita
Preceded by	Eiichi Nakao
Succeeded by	Kōichirō Aino
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
In office 25 November 1973 – 11 November 1974
Prime Minister	Kakuei Tanaka
Preceded by	Chūji Kuno
Succeeded by	Toshio Kashima
Minister of Transport
In office 30 November 1968 – 14 January 1970
Prime Minister	Eisaku Satō
Preceded by	Yasuhiro Nakasone
Succeeded by	Tomisaburō Hashimoto
Personal details
Born	(1919-02-12)February 12, 1919 Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Died	January 29, 1997(1997-01-29) (aged 77) Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Education	Meiji University

Scouting

Harada served as a member of the National Board of Governors of the Boy Scouts of Nippon and President of the Scout Parliamentary Caucus. In 1989, Harada was awarded the 200th Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.[11][12] In 1985 he also received the highest distinction of the Scout Association of Japan, the Golden Pheasant Award.[13]

Notes

1. Vilaró (1989), 1.
2. Associated Press (Jan. 24, 1989), 5.
3. Chira (1989).
4. Schoenberger (1989), 8.
5. United Press International (1989), 3.
6. Associated Press (Jan. 26, 1989), 5,
7. Hoshii (1993), 178.
8. Japan stock scandal (1989), 5.
9. Hartcher (1989), 9.
10. Hayes (2004), 110.
11. "List of recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award". scout.org. WOSM. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
12. http://bsy87arc2.tobys.biz/Y87/08_BRZ/2008_03%20Scouting%202.pdf
13. reinanzaka-sc.o.oo7.jp/kiroku/documents/20140523-3-kiji-list.pdf

References

• Associated Press (26 January 1989). "Takeshita: He'll stay, seek trust". The Register-Guard. Guard. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Associated Press (24 January 1989). "3rd Japan official resigns in stock scandal". Deseret News. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Chira, Susan (25 January 1989). "Scandal Fells Another Japanese Official". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Hartcher, Peter (25 January 1989). "Recruit scandal claims senior Cabinet Minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Hayes, Louis (2004). Introduction to Japanese Politics (illustrated ed.). M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0-7656-1338-7. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Hoshii, Iwao (1993). Japan's Pseudo-Democracy. Routledge. ISBN 1-873410-07-7. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• "Japan stock scandal: Third cabinet minister resigns". The Gainesville Sun. The New York Times Company. 25 January 1989. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Schoenberger, Karl (1 January 1989). "Fund-raising ethics". Manila Standard. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• United Press International (13 February 1989). "More arrests made in stock scandal". Ellensburg Daily Record. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
• Vilaró, Ramón (25 January 1989). "El escándalo de Recruit se cobra otro ministro japonés: Dimite el titular de Planificación Económica". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 September 2009.

• Dr. László Nagy, 250 Million Scouts, The World Scout Foundation and Dartnell Publishers, 1985, complete list through 1981

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20131014183020/http://www5.airnet.ne.jp/bsy87/Y87eng/eNews/08_BRZ/eY87_2008_brz_01a.html
• "In Support of World Scouting" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
• Full list of Japanese Bronze Wolf recipients
• http://www.scout.or.jp/_src/sc2726/11na_report.pdf

House of Representatives of Japan
Preceded by Ihei Ochi	Chair, Committee on Transport of the House of Representatives 1982–1983	Succeeded by Toshiichi Fuke
Preceded by Shun Ōide	Chair, Committee on Discipline of the House of Representatives 1993–1996	Succeeded by Keiwa Okuda
Political offices
Preceded by Yasuhiro Nakasone	Minister of Transport 1968–1970	Succeeded by Tomisaburō Hashimoto
Preceded by Chūji Kuno	Minister of Posts and Telecommunications 1973–1974	Succeeded by Toshio Kashima
Preceded by Eiichi Nakao	Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency 1988–1989	Succeeded by Kōichirō Aino
Party political offices
Preceded by Shin Kanemaru	Chair, Diet Affairs Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party 1972–1973	Succeeded by Hajime Fukuda