Tarō Asō
Tarō Asō (麻生 太郎, Asō Tarō, born 20 September 1940) is a Japanese politician serving as the Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2021. Asō previously served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009 and as Deputy Prime Minister of Japan and Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2021. He was the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Japanese history, having previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2003 to 2005. He leads the Shikōkai faction within the LDP.[1]
In this Japanese name, the surname is Asō. The baptismal name is Francisco.
Tarō Asō
Vacant
Fukuoka 2nd district (1986–1996)
Fukuoka 8th district (1996–present)
Asao Mihara
Toshio Ohashi
Fukuoka 2nd district
20 September 1940
Iizuka, Fukuoka, Empire of Japan
Chikako Suzuki
2
Shigeru Yoshida (grandfather)
Nobuko, Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (sister)
Princess Akiko (niece)
Princess Yōko (niece)
Ken'ichi Yoshida (uncle)
Asō was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1979. He served in numerous ministerial roles before becoming Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2008, having also held that role temporarily in 2007.[2] He was later elected LDP President in September 2008, becoming Prime Minister the same month.[2] He led the LDP to the worst election result in its history a year later, marking only the second time in post-war Japan that a governing party had lost re-election, and resigned as the President of the party immediately afterwards. After the LDP returned to government following the 2012 election under Shinzo Abe, Asō was appointed to the Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, retaining those roles when Yoshihide Suga replaced Abe in 2020.[3] After Fumio Kishida was appointed Prime Minister in October 2021, Asō was moved to the role of Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party.[4]
Asō has been attached to a number of controversies in his career. He conceded in 2008 that his family had benefitted from forced labor during World War II, although he has refused to apologize for it. Asō also had a reputation for political gaffes and controversial remarks.[5]
Early life and education[edit]
Asō, a Catholic, was born in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture on 20 September 1940.[6] His father, Takakichi Asō, was the chairman of the Aso Cement Company and a close associate of Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka; his mother Kazuko Asō was Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's daughter. Tarō is also a great-great-grandson of Ōkubo Toshimichi, one of the Three Great Nobles regarded as the main founders of modern Japan. His younger sister, Nobuko, Princess Tomohito of Mikasa, is a cousin-in-law of Emperor Emeritus Akihito. His wife, Chikako, is the third daughter of Prime Minister Zenkō Suzuki.[7]
Asō graduated from the Faculty of Politics and Economics at Gakushuin University,[8] and he later attended Stanford University and the London School of Economics, though he dropped out of Stanford at the request of his Anglophile grandfather Shigeru Yoshida on account of his "lousy Californian accent."[9] Asō initially took the examination at Sankei Shimbun, a newspaper company ran by Mizuno Shigeo, a friend of his father's, but chose to study abroad instead.[10]
Career[edit]
After he returned to Japan from his studies abroad, he entered the Aso Industry Company in 1966.[11] Working for the company, he lived in Brazil during the 1960s and became fluent in Portuguese.[12]
For two years from 1970, he worked in the diamond mining industry in Sierra Leone as a local representative of the Asō family at a new mining area offered by a local authority after the nationalization of the diamond industry in the country. He was forced to return to Japan at the outbreak of civil unrest in the country.[13][14]
He served as president of the Aso Mining Company from 1973 to 1979. He was also a member of the Japanese shooting team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and President of the Japan Junior Chamber in 1978.
