Keizō Obuchi

Keizō Obuchi (Japanese: 小渕 恵三, Hepburn: Obuchi Keizō; 25 June 1937 – 14 May 2000) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000.

Born in Gunma Prefecture, Obuchi graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the National Diet in 1963, becoming one of the youngest legislators in Japanese history. He rose through the ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party, serving as director of the Okinawa Development Agency from 1979 to 1980, chief cabinet secretary under Noboru Takeshita from 1987 to 1989, and foreign minister under Ryutaro Hashimoto from 1997 to 1998, where he distinguished himself during talks with Russia on the Kuril Islands dispute. Obuchi became prime minister in 1998, and during his tenure tried to conclude a peace treaty with Russia to formally end World War II, and attempted to revive Japan's stagnant economy by raising public spending and lowering income taxes. In 2000, Obuchi suddenly fell into a coma and died six weeks later.