page_title: Keizō Obuchi
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Keizō Obuchi / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: US President Bill Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi (1937–2000) at a banquet hall in Tokyo. 日本語: ja:ビル・クリントン大統領と小渕恵三総理
context_page_description: Keizō Obuchi was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000.
  Obuchi was elected to the House of Representatives in Gunma Prefecture in 1963, becoming the youngest legislator in Japanese history, and was re-elected to his seat eleven times. Obuchi rose through the ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party and distinguished himself in the prominent posts of Chief Cabinet Secretary and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the 1980s and 1990s. Obuchi became Prime Minister in 1998 after replacing Ryutaro Hashimoto as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, and his premiership was characterized by attempts to reverse the effects of the Lost Decade. Obuchi entered a coma in office in 2000, less than two years into his term as Prime Minister, and was replaced by Yoshiro Mori shortly before his death.
context_section_description: That November, inspired by his talk with Kennedy, Obuchi ran for the House of Representatives and was elected to a seat representing Gunma's 3rd district, making him the youngest legislator in Japanese history at 26 years of age. Obuchi served his first term in the Diet while pursuing graduate studies at Waseda University.
  In 1979, Obuchi became the director of the Prime Minister's office and director of the Okinawa Development Agency, his first cabinet post. Obuchi served there for eight years before becoming Chief Cabinet Secretary in 1987. Two years later, Obuchi formally announced the death of Emperor Shōwa. As Chief Cabinet Secretary, Obuchi was tasked in making the famous announcement of the new era name "Heisei" for the new Emperor Akihito.
  In 1991, Obuchi became secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and in 1994 became its vice president. In 1997, Ryutaro Hashimoto appointed Obuchi as Minister of Foreign Affairs, where he distinguished himself in negotiations with Russia over Japanese claims in the Kuril Islands, as well as negotiations over the unification of Korea.
caption: with Bill Clinton (at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on November 19, 1998)
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