The Political Road Map of the Twenty-Ninth Anniversary: The Biography of Toshiki Kaifu -From 1948 to the Beginning of the Heisei Era- (Japanese only)

The Political Road Map of the Twenty-Ninth Anniversary: The Biography of Toshiki Kaifu -From 1948 to the Beginning of the Heisei Era- (Japanese only)

In 1958, at the age of 29, Toshiki Kaifu made his first attempt at national politics, winning his first election to the House of Representatives in the 29th general election from the former Aichi 3rd district. His entry into national politics at such a young age was unusual even at that time, and it was a perfect age for him to enter the political arena.

The year before, Kaifu graduated from Waseda University in 1954. His eloquence, which he had developed in the oratorical and eloquence clubs, had already shone through, and he won the hearts of the people with his street speeches and door-to-door canvassing during the local election campaign. His political life began with the number "29," which coincided with his age, 29th general election, and graduation in 1954.

In 1988, one of the biggest corruption scandals in the political world, the Recruit Incident, came to light, and while many heavyweights in the Liberal Democratic Party were involved, Kaifu had nothing to do with it, drawing renewed attention to his clean record.

The following year, 1989, the LDP sought a new candidate for prime minister to dispel public distrust, and Toshiki Kaifu, a symbol of non-factionalism and non-corruption, was nominated as the 76th prime minister. This was another curious turn of events that seemed to be guided by the fate of "29.

The biggest test of his administration was the Gulf Crisis that began in 1990. In response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the international community moved from economic sanctions to the deployment of a multinational force, but Japan was unable to deploy the Self-Defense Forces due to constitutional restrictions. In order to fulfill its international responsibility, the Kaifu administration decided to provide financial assistance totaling 13 billion dollars (about 1.7 trillion yen), the largest contribution by Japan in the postwar period.

However, this decision was symbolic of the fact that Japan's name was not included in the Kuwaiti government's advertisement of appreciation for the assistance, which was criticized both domestically and internationally as "money but no sweat. This experience led to a rethinking of Japan's international contributions, which later led to the enactment of the PKO Cooperation Law (1992).

Toshiki Kaifu's political career, which began with "29," gained him credibility for his "integrity," and then became marked by his "international contributions," stood at a turning point of the times and quietly but surely changed the shape of Japanese politics.