Takeo Miki

Takeo Miki (三木 武夫, Miki Takeo, 17 March 1907 – 14 November 1988) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1974 until 1976.

Takeo Miki
三木 武夫
Takeo Miki
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 9 December 1974 – 24 December 1976
Monarch	Shōwa
Preceded by	Kakuei Tanaka
Succeeded by	Takeo Fukuda
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 31 March 1937 – 14 November 1988
Constituency	Tokushima At-large
Personal details
Born	(1907-03-17)17 March 1907 Awa, Tokushima, Japan
Died	14 November 1988(1988-11-14) (aged 81) Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Mutsuko Miki (1940–1988; his death)
Alma mater	Meiji University University of Southern California
Signature

Background summary

Takeo Miki (毎日グラフ, 毎日新聞社, 10 March 1952.)

Born in Awa, Tokushima, Miki graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo. He attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from the institution in 1966.[1]

Miki was elected to the Diet in 1937 and remained there until his death in 1988, during which he was elected a representative for 19 times over 51 years. In the 1942 general election he ran in opposition to the military government under Hideki Tojo and still managed to win a seat; his efforts at this time were assisted by Kan Abe, the grandfather of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.[2]

Miki took over from Kakuei Tanaka as Prime Minister on 9 December 1974, following the latter's implication in the corruptions concerning real-estate and construction companies. Miki's attraction was particularly due his reputed political cleanness, and his weak power base from his small faction. In fact, he was not prepared to be prime minister at all, as was reflected when upon his election he murmured "a bolt from the blue".

During a visit by Miki to the funeral of Eisuke Sato in 1975, he was attacked by Hiroyoshi Fudeyasu, the secretary-general of the Great Japan Patriotic Party[3] with foreign dignitaries nearby.[4] This caused criticism of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police over not doing enough to ensure his safety.[3]

After being elected, Miki attempted to reform the LDP, relentlessly investigating the Lockheed bribery scandals, which made him a large number of enemies within the party. A campaign literally called "Down with Miki" ("Miki oroshi") was started by influential faction leaders. Despite Miki's personal popularity with the public, the Lockheed scandal reflected poorly on the party, which lost its overall majority in the 1976 election to the Diet and had to make deals with minor parties to remain in power. Embarrassed by the result, Miki resigned[5] and was succeeded on 24 December 1976, by Takeo Fukuda.

Miscellaneous

In Mao Zedong's final days, he took a great interest in Miki's political condition, as Miki was suffering a coup d'état from amongst his own party. Mao had never shown any interest in Miki before, or even mentioned him.

He held many other posts during his career in addition to being prime minister.

NFL player Takeo Spikes was named after Miki.[6]

Connection to Seattle

During his time in Seattle, Miki spent a period as a dishwasher at noted Japanese restaurant Maneki.[7]

To commemorate the ties of Japan to America, and Seattle in particular, Miki gave 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle to commemorate the United States Bicentennial in 1976. This gift gave birth to the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival, still running annually.[8]

Slang Term

In Hong Kong, the name "Takeo Miki" (三木武夫) is sometimes used to describe actors or actresses with wooden or no emotional expressions during movies or TV dramas. Some have said that the origin for the slang term stems from Miki's wooden expression during his appearance in news reports.

Honours

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (14 November 1988; posthumous)

Foreign honour

•  Mexico: Sash of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (18 September 1967)

Gallery

• 
  Memorandum of Conversation, White House state dining room, June 30, 1976

References

1. Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry, Takeo Miki's visit to Los Angeles, California, 29–30 September 1966 and 1 and 3 October 1966, Japanese American National Museum, Accessed 10 February 2009.
2. "Japanese prime minister`s another DNA". Dong-A Ilbo. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
3. https://www.stripes.com/news/attack-on-miki-security-lapse-shock-citizens-1.20993
4. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/17/archives/japanese-premier-is-punched-by-a-rightist-at-sato-funeral.htmlM
5. "Tanaka reshuffles Japanese cabinet". Daytona Beach Morning. Tokyo. AP. 17 July 1974. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
6. Michael Silver, Face Lift, Sports Illustrated, 26 November 2001, Accessed 7 October 2011.
7. Broom, Jack (September 20, 2004), "Japanese eatery will serve up a centennial party of its own", The Seattle Times
8. McKenzie, Madeline (April 24, 2019), "Enjoy a celebration of Japanese culture and other spring events in Seattle and Bellevue", The Seattle Times

This article incorporates text from OpenHistory.

Party political offices
Preceded by Post established	Secretary-General of the National Cooperative Party 1947	Succeeded by Seiichi Okada
Preceded by Nobusuke Kishi	Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party 1956-1957	Succeeded by Shōjiro Kawashima
Preceded by Toichirō Tsukada	Chairman of the Policy Research Council, Liberal Democratic Party 1957-1958	Succeeded by Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by Okinori Kaya	Chairman of the Policy Research Council, Liberal Democratic Party 1963-1964	Succeeded by Hideo Sutō
Preceded by Shigesaburō Maeo	Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party 1964-1965	Succeeded by Kakuei Tanaka
Preceded by Kakuei Tanaka	President of the Liberal Democratic Party 1974-1976	Succeeded by Takeo Fukuda
Political offices
Preceded by Tetsu Katayama	Minister of Communications 1947–1948	Succeeded by Eiji Tomiyoshi
Preceded by Mitsujiro Ishii	Minister of Transport 1954–1955	Succeeded by Shinji Yoshino
Preceded by Ichiro Kono	Director of the Economic Planning Agency 1958	Succeeded by Koichi Seko
Preceded by Shoriki Matsutaro	Minister of State, Head of the Science and Technology Agency 1958	Succeeded by Tatsunosuke Takasaki
Preceded by Masanosuke Ikeda	Minister of State, Head of the Science and Technology Agency 1961–1962	Succeeded by Tsuruyo Kondo
Preceded by Yoshio Sakurauchi	Minister of International Trade and Industry 1965–1966	Succeeded by Watarō Kanno
Preceded by Etsusaburō Shiina	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1966–1968	Succeeded by Kiichi Aichi
Preceded by Shuji Masutani	Deputy Prime Minister of Japan 1972–1974	Succeeded by Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by Kakuei Tanaka	Prime Minister of Japan 1974–1976