Tanaka Kakuei

The Prime Minister of Japan who achieved the normalization of China–Japan relations.

Life

Son of a farming family

Tanaka Kakuei came from a farming family in Niigata and finished only higher elementary school. He made his start in the construction business and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1947. Known for his humble origins and boundless energy, he was nicknamed the "computerized bulldozer."

The Computerized Bulldozer

In 1972 he became Prime Minister and put forward the "Plan for Remodeling the Japanese Archipelago." In September of that year he visited Beijing and signed the China–Japan Joint Communiqué with Premier Zhou Enlai, achieving the normalization of China–Japan relations.

Normalization of China–Japan relations

He resigned in 1974 over a money-politics scandal and was arrested in 1976 in the Lockheed bribery case. He nonetheless continued to wield long-term influence over the Liberal Democratic Party from behind the scenes, and died in 1993.

Legacy

Tanaka Kakuei achieved the normalization of China–Japan relations, and the Chinese people still remember him as one of the well diggers in the saying "when you drink water, do not forget those who dug the well."

Major works & achievements

• Plan for Remodeling the Japanese Archipelago

Did you know? During his visit to China, Mao Zedong presented him with a set of the Chu Ci Jizhu (Collected Commentaries on the Songs of Chu).

Key dates

• 1947Elected to the House of Representatives
• 1972Becomes Prime Minister; visits China and achieves the normalization of China–Japan relations
• 1974Resigns
• 1976Arrested in the Lockheed scandal
• 1993Died