# Hosokawa Cabinet

The Hosokawa Cabinet governed Japan from August 9, 1993, to April 28, 1994 under the premiership of Morihiro Hosokawa. In Japan, his administration is generally referred to as a representative example of non-LDP and non-JCP Coalition.

## Political background

Formed in the aftermath of the 1993 general election, this cabinet was a broad based coalition of parties of both left (the JSP, SDF and DSP), right (JRP, JNP and NPS) and religious politics (Komeito). A series of defections had cost the LDP its majority before the 1993 election, after which all non-Communist opposition parties coalesced with the aim of creating the first non-LDP government in 38 years and achieving electoral reform. Despite the fact that the conservative Japan Renewal Party and the left-wing Japan Socialist Party were the largest parties in the coalition, Ichirō Ozawa (who negotiated the formation of the government) and his allies in the JRP pushed for Morihiro Hosokawa, a former governor of Kumamoto Prefecture and the leader of the small Japan New Party, to lead the government. Hosokawa was elected by the Diet on August 6, and took office as the first non-LDP Prime Minister for four decades. The Prime Minister himself was the only New Party member of the cabinet, which was mostly dominated by the JRP and the Socialists.
The coalition achieved Hosokawa's goal of electoral reform, replacing the previous system of multi-member districts with a combined system of single-member districts, elected by first past the post, and blocs of proportional representation candidates. But having achieved this, and replaced the LDP, the unifying purpose of the coalition was lost and ideological differences between the parties, especially over tax and defence policy, began to split the cabinet. Following revelations of a campaign finance scandal, Hosokawa announced his surprise resignation on April 8, 1994. After several weeks of negotiations, foreign minister Tsutomu Hata of the JRP became Prime Minister on April 28.

## Election of the prime minister

August 6, 1993 Absolute majority (256/511) required :
| House of Representatives ||||
| Choice | Choice | First Vote | First Vote |
| Choice | Choice | Votes |
| | YMorihiro Hosokawa | 262 / 511 |
| | Yōhei Kōno | 224 / 511 |
| | Others and Abstentions (Including Speaker and Deputy) | 25 / 511 |
| Source |||

## Ministers

Japan New  Renewal  New Party Sakigake  Komeito  Democratic Socialist  Socialist  Independent R = Member of the House of Representatives C = Member of the House of Councillors
Cabinet of Morihiro Hosokawa from August 9, 1993, to April 28, 1994 :
| Portfolio | Minister | Minister | Term of Office |
| Prime Minister | Morihiro Hosokawa | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary | Masayoshi Takemura | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs | Tsutomu Hata | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Justice | Akira Mikazuki | - | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Finance | Hirohisa Fujii | R | August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994 |
| Minister of Education | Ryōko Akamatsu | - | August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994 |
| Minister of Health and Welfare | Keigo Ōuchi | R | August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994 |
| Minister of Labour | Chikara Sakaguchi | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | Eijiro Hata [ja] | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of International Trade and Industry | Hiroshi Kumagai | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Transport | Shigeru Itō | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Construction | Kozo Igarashi | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Home Affairs Director of the National Public Safety Commission | Kanju Sato | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of Posts and Telecommunications | Takenori Kanzaki | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Director of the Management and Coordination Agency | Koshiro Ishida | R | August 9, 1993 – June 30, 1994 |
| Director of the Japan Defense Agency | Keisuke Nakanishi | R | August 9, 1993 – December 1, 1993 |
| Director of the Japan Defense Agency | Kazuo Aichi | R | December 1, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Director of the National Land Agency Director of the Hokkaido Development Agency Director of the Okinawa Development Agency Development, | Kosuke Uehara | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Director of the Economic Planning Agency | Manae Kubota | C | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Director of the Environment Agency | Wakako Hironaka | C | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Director of the Science and Technology Agency | Satsuki Eda | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |
| Minister of State (in charge of political reform) | Sadao Yamahana | R | August 9, 1993 – April 28, 1994 |

### Changes

* December 1 – Defence Minister Keisuke Nakanishi resigned over controversial remarks he made related to Japan's pacifist constitution, and was replaced by Kazuo Aichi.