Toshio Kimura

Toshio Kimura
木村 俊夫
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office July 1974 – December 1974
Prime Minister	Kakuei Tanaka
Preceded by	Masayoshi Ohira
Succeeded by	Kiichi Miyazawa
Head of the Economic Planning Agency
In office July 1971 – July 1972
Prime Minister	Eisaku Satō
Preceded by	Ichiro Sato
Succeeded by	Kiichi Arita
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office July 1967 – November 1968
Prime Minister	Eisaku Satō
Preceded by	Kenji Fukunaga
Succeeded by	Shigeru Hori
Personal details
Born	1909 Tōin, Japan
Died	1 December 1983 (aged 73–74) Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University

Toshio Kimura (1909 – 1 December 1983) was a Japanese politician who served as foreign minister for six months in 1974.

Early life

Kimura was born into a politically active family in 1909.^[1] His father and grandfather were both lawmakers.^[2]

Career

Kimura was elected to the House of Representatives for 12 times as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).^[2] In addition, he served as chief cabinet secretary in the cabinet of then prime minister Eisaku Sato.^[2] He was also chairman of the Parliamentarians' League for Japan-Palestine Friendship.^[2] He organized late Yasser Arafat's visit to Japan in 1981.^[3]

His other posts include director-general of the economic planning agency and deputy chief cabinet secretary. In 1971, Kimura served as acting foreign minister.^[4] He was appointed foreign minister by then prime minister Kakuei Tanaka in mid-July 1974, replacing Masayoshi Ohira.^[5] Kimura was in office for six months in 1974.^[2] Kimura visited Africa in late October and early November 1974, which was a beginning of cooperation between African countries and Japan.^[6][7] He was the first senior Japanese government official to visit African countries.^[8] His Africa visit included Ghana, Nigeria, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Tanzania, and Egypt.^[7][9] Then Kimura became head of the LDP's Asian-African Studies Group in 1977.^[10]

Personal life

Kimura was married and had a daughter.^[2]

Death

Kimura died of a heart attack at a hospital in Tokyo on 1 December 1983. He was 74.^[2]

References

1. "Foreign ministers of Japan". Rulers. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
2. "Toshio Kimura Dies; Former Tokyo Official". The New York Times (Tokyo). AP. 3 December 1983. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
3. "Toshio Kimura". Toledo Blade. 1 December 1983. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
4. Jacob Bercovitch, Kwei-Bo Huang, Chung-Chian Teng. Conflict management, security and intervention in East Asia: third-party mediation in regional conflict. Routledge. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-134-14102-9. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
5. "Tanaka reshuffles Japanese cabinet". Daytona Beach Morning (Tokyo). AP. 17 July 1974. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
6. "Chapter 2. Diplomatic Efforts Made by Japan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
7. Hideo, Oda (Winter 2002). "Japan-Africa Relations in the Twenty-first Century" (PDF). Gaiko Forum: 42–46. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
8. Murray, Geoffrey (30 March 1981). "'Independent' Japan begins to build better ties with black Africa". The CS Monitor. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
9. Jun Morikawa (1997). Japan and Africa: Big Business and Diplomacy. Hurst. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-85065-141-3. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
10. Sueo Sudō (1992). The Fukuda Doctrine and ASEAN: New Dimensions in Japanese Foreign Policy. Institute of Southeast Asian. p. 124. ISBN 978-981-3016-14-9. Retrieved 5 January 2013.