TOKYO, Oct 26 — Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, who used his brief period in office to seek closer ties with Asian neighbours, particularly China, has died at the age of 90.
The Nikkei business daily reported today that the politician, the first son of a prime minister to become premier himself, died on Thursday (October 22) from heart failure.
After becoming prime minister following Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation in 2007, Fukuda lasted less than a year — a tenure even shorter than his father Takeo's two-year stint.
An economics graduate of Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University, he spent nearly two decades working his way up the ranks of an oil company — including a two-year posting in the United States — before resigning to become a political secretary when his father became premier in 1976.
Elected to Japan's more powerful Lower House of Parliament in 1990, the bespectacled Fukuda was chief cabinet secretary from 2000 to 2004, resigning as one of several Cabinet ministers to admit not paying into the pension system.
Known for his testy manner, he drew criticism in 2003 for off-the-record comments in which he suggested women who dressed provocatively were asking to be raped.
When Fukuda succeeded Abe, he joked he might have drawn the short straw in assuming office given the divided parliament and Opposition parties' ability to delay legislation.
Frustrated with the stalled legislative process, he resigned in 2008, the second of six prime ministers to quit after only around a year in office.
Known as a diplomatic dove, Fukuda made several visits to China after leaving office to improve often fraught relations.
Fukuda leaves a son, Tatsuo, who is also a lawmaker and has been viewed as a potential future prime minister.
