Ryutaro Hashimoto

橋本龍太郎

Japan state institutions Conservatism and Christian democracy

1937.7.29.–2006.7.1. ○ Natural death

Prime Minister of Japan who raised the consumption tax in 1997 and faced the financial crisis

Born in Sōja, Okayama, the son of a cabinet minister, Hashimoto graduated from Keio University and entered the House of Representatives in 1963. A leading figure in the Tanaka-Takeshita faction of the LDP, he served as health and transport minister and, as finance minister in 1989–91, oversaw the restriction on real estate lending. As prime minister in 1996–98 he pushed through the jūsen settlement and fiscal consolidation, raising the consumption tax to 5 percent in 1997; consumption froze and financial institutions failed one after another that autumn. He resigned after the LDP's defeat in the 1998 upper house election.

Also known as: Ryūtarō Hashimoto

Activities and affiliations

1963–2005

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
Political and party leadership
1989–1991

Japan state institutionsMinister of Finance
Economy, finance and planning
1996–1998

Japan state institutionsPrime MinisterMain
Government and administration

Career Timeline

1963–2005Member of the House of Representatives
1989.08–1991Minister of Finance
1996.01.11–1998.07Prime Minister
1997.04Consumption tax raised to 5 percent

Related historical events

1985.09.22–2006.03.09Japan's bubble economy and its collapseFinance Minister, later Prime MinisterWas finance minister at the time of the 1990 lending restriction, and as prime minister carried out the 1996 jūsen settlement and the 1997 consumption tax increase.