# Yōhei Kōno

Yōhei Kōno (河野 洋平, Kōno Yōhei, born 15 January 1937) is a Japanese politician and a former President of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2003 until August 2009, when the LDP lost its majority in the 2009 election. Kōno served as speaker for the longest length since the set up of House of Representatives in 1890.
He was the president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations from 1999 to 2013.

## Early life and education

Kōno was born on 15 January 1937, in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, the eldest son of politician Ichirō Kōno. His father served as deputy prime minister and was in charge of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His younger uncle Kenzō Kōno served as the president of the House of Councillors from 1971 to 1977.
After graduating from Waseda University Senior High School, he studied Economics at Waseda University. Upon graduation, Kōno worked with the Marubeni company. In 1967, Kono's political career began due to the death of his father.

## Political career

He was Deputy Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1995 which he had strong influence in the Murayama Cabinet. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and Yoshirō Mori (1993-1995, 1999-2001). He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was once President of the LDP from 1993 to 1995, and to date is one of two LDP leaders, along with Sadakazu Tanigaki, to have never served as Prime Minister of Japan. As he is one of the pro-China faction of the LDP, he came under pressure domestically in the spring of 2005 when anti-Japanese movements in China became intense due to then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine which he opposed the visit to.
Kōno is known for his acknowledgement of comfort women. During his tenure as Chief Cabinet Secretary, in a speech titled the official statement he made in 1993, made after historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi announced he had discovered in the Defense Agency library in Tokyo documentary evidence that the Imperial Japanese Army established and ran comfort stations, he admitted that the Japanese Imperial Army had been involved, directly and indirectly, in the establishment of comfort stations, and that coercion had been used in the recruitment and retention of the women. His subsequent call for historical research and education aimed at remembering the issue became the basis for addressing the subject of forced prostitution in school history textbooks.

## Footnotes

* ↑ "Kono's tenure longest as speaker". The Japan Times. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
* ↑ The Successive President and Vice-President and Senior-Managing-Director of JAAF (日本陸連歴代会長・理事長・専務理事) (in Japanese) Japan Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
Party political offices :
| Position established | President of the New Liberal Club 1976–1979 | Succeeded bySeiichi Tagawa |
| Preceded bySeiichi Tagawa | President of the New Liberal Club 1984–1986 | Position abolished |
| Preceded byKiichi Miyazawa | President of the Liberal Democratic Party 1993–1995 | Succeeded byRyutaro Hashimoto |
| Political offices |||
| Preceded byReiichi Takeuchi | Director General of the Science and Technology Agency 1985–1986 | Succeeded byYataro Mitsubayashi |
| Preceded byReiichi Takeuchi | Chairman of the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission 1985–1986 | Succeeded byYataro Mitsubayashi |
| Preceded byKoichi Kato | Chief Cabinet Secretary 1992–1993 | Succeeded byMasayoshi Takemura |
| Preceded byKoji Kakizawa | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1994–1996 | Succeeded byYukihiko Ikeda |
| Preceded byTsutomu Hata | Deputy Prime Minister of Japan 1994–1995 | Succeeded byRyutaro Hashimoto |
| Preceded byMasahiko Kōmura | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1999–2001 | Succeeded byMakiko Tanaka |
| Preceded byTamisuke Watanuki | Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives 2003–2009 | Succeeded byTakahiro Yokomichi |
| Sporting positions |||
| Preceded byHanji Aoki | President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations 1999–2013 | Succeeded byHiroshi Yokokawa |