Kakuei Tanaka, Japan's first prime minister, has a legendary life story. He started as a poor cattle trader in Niigata Prefecture, and although he dropped out of school early to work due to his family's downfall, he traveled to Tokyo alone at the age of 16 with perseverance, working as a construction worker, a porter, and a trainee journalist, and at the same time studied civil engineering at a private engineering school in his spare time, and finally obtained a diploma.
Fate seemed to favor him in 1938, and despite being drafted into the army and possibly becoming cannon fodder on the battlefield, he was able to return home with pneumonia. After returning to Japan, Tanaka used his experience at a construction company to establish a private construction firm. Despite the initial setbacks, he gets to know the landlord's daughter, Hanako, along the way. The two married in 1942, and Tanaka inherited his father-in-law's construction industry, and his career rose rapidly, establishing Tanaka Civil Construction Co., Ltd., and successfully became a well-known wealthy businessman in Japan during the boom of Japan's reconstruction after World War II.
After the war, Japan's political landscape changed, and civilians began to have the opportunity to participate in politics. In 1947, at the age of 29, Kakuei Tanaka took the opportunity to enter politics and was successfully elected to the National Assembly. At a time when the United States was trying to control Japan, he made a speech to defend Japan's autonomy in internal affairs, which helped Yoshida Shigeru retain his position as prime minister, and he was also reused as political vice minister of the Ministry of Justice. Despite his involvement in the ** case** soon after, Tanaka, who was in the detention center, was elected to the Legislature with a high number of votes, showing strong public support. In 1950, after Tanaka's acquittal, with the support of Shigeru Yoshida, he rose to prominence in political circles.
In 1957, at the age of 39, Kakuei Tanaka joined the Cabinet for the first time as Minister of Posts, setting a new record for the youngest cabinet member in the postwar period. In the face of opposition and pressure from conservative forces, he insisted on his own views and successfully promoted Japan into the television age, and was known as "a bulldozer with a computer". After that, he became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he held this position for many years, accumulating deep influence.
In 1972, Kakuei Tanaka challenged Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, and successfully counterattacked the throne and became prime minister by issuing a policy program "Theory on the Transformation of the Japanese Archipelago" and effectively winning over parliamentarians. Two months after taking office, he withstood tremendous pressure to visit China, normalized diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and became the first Japanese prime minister to admit the historical crime of aggression against China. However, this move was strongly criticized in the country, and Tanaka even faced a threat to his life and accusations of thieves.
In terms of domestic affairs, Tanaka's efforts to implement the "Theory of the Transformation of the Japanese Archipelago" and replan the country's industrial layout, narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, and strive to achieve equal development on a national scale, had a profound impact on Japan's subsequent social model. Although he was forced to ** due to an alleged bribery scandal in his later years, his contribution to the development of Sino-Japanese relations is indelible.
Until the end of his life, Kakuei Tanaka remained committed to promoting friendship between China and Japan. In 1992, even though he was seriously ill and had difficulty moving, he led three generations of his family to visit China to visit the Lugou Bridge and the Chinese Memorial Hall of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, expressing his reflection on history and his firm belief in peace and friendship between the two countries. On December 16, 1993, Kakuei Tanaka died of illness, and two years later, he was convicted by the Supreme Court of Japan. In any case, Kakuei Tanaka's place in modern Japanese history cannot be overlooked, and his merits and demerits have become part of that complex history.