Tanaka Tatsuo
Tanaka Tatsuo was a Japanese politician and baron who served as Minister of Education from 1980 to 1981 and Minister of International Trade and Industry from 1976 to 1977.
He was the eldest son of Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi.
Early life and education
Born on 20 September 1910, in Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan, Tanaka was the eldest son of Tanaka Giichi, a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and future prime minister of Japan. After attending Gyosei High School, he entered Urawa High School and later enrolled in the Tokyo Imperial University. During this time, he inherited the title of baron following his father's death. He also married Takahashi Setsuko.Bureaucratic career
After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1937, Tanaka joined the South Manchuria Railway. He later served as a researcher in the Planning Agency, a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Munitions, and a secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Shimada Toshio during the Koiso Cabinet.Following the end of World War II, Tanaka was appointed as a secretary to Minister of Commerce and Industry Ogasawara Mikio in the Shidehara Cabinet.
Political career
On 11 May 1946, he was elected to the House of Peers as a baron, where he served until its abolition on 2 May 1947. That same year, he was elected as the first governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture under the public election system.In 1953, Tanaka resigned as governor midway through his second term to run as an independent candidate in the 26th House of Representatives election. He was elected from the old Yamaguchi 1st district and subsequently joined the Japan Liberal Party. He later followed Nobusuke Kishi, his senior from the same prefecture, into the newly formed Japan Democratic Party.
Tanaka joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) upon its formation through a merger of conservative parties. He held various positions including Minister of International Trade and Industry during the Takeo Fukuda Cabinet, and Minister of Education during the Zenkō Suzuki Cabinet. In 1981, he was appointed as the LDP General Council Chairman under Prime Minister Zenkō Suzuki.