Hirokichi Nadao

Speaker of the House of RepresentativesIn office
1 February 1979 – 19 May 1980MonarchHirohitoPreceded byShigeru HoriSucceeded byHajime Fukuda90th Minister of EducationIn office
25 November 1967 – 30 November 1968CabinetEisaku Satō II First Reformed CabinetPreceded byToshihiro KennokiSucceeded byMichita Sakata82nd-83rd Minister of EducationIn office
18 July 1962^{[citation needed]} – 18 July 1964CabinetHayato Ikeda II Second Reformed Cabinet
Hayato Ikeda II Third Reformed Cabinet
Hayato Ikeda IIIPreceded byMasuo ArakiSucceeded byKiichi Aichi37th Minister of Health and WelfareIn office
18 July 1961 – 18 July 1962CabinetHayato Ikeda II First Reformed CabinetPreceded byYoshimi FuruiSucceeded byEiichi Nishimura77th Minister of EducationIn office
12 June 1958 – 31 December 1958Preceded byTou MatsunagaSucceeded byRyogo Hashimoto74th/75th Minister of EducationIn office
23 December 1956 – 10 July 1957Preceded byIchirō KiyoseSucceeded byTou Matsunaga33rd Governor of Oita PrefectureIn office
7 January 1941 – 15 June 1942^{[citation needed]}Member of the House of RepresentativesIn office
2 October 1952 – 27 November 1983ConstituencyHiroshima 1st District Personal detailsBorn21 December 1899
Ōgaki, Hiroshima Prefecture, JapanDied22 January 1994 (94 years old)
Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan^{[citation needed]}Political partyLiberal
Liberal Democratic
IndependentAlma materTokyo Imperial UniversityAwardsJunior Second Rank
Order of the Rising Sun, 1st Class (Order of the Paulownia Flowers)

Hirokichi Nadao (Japanese: 灘尾 弘吉; 21 December 1899 – 22 January 1994) was a Japanese politician. Throughout his career, he served as Minister of Education multiple times, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minister of Health and Welfare, and Governor of Oita Prefecture.

Nadao was known for his hawkish attitudes. He held an aggressive stance towards Nikkyoso, the teachers' union of Japan, and unions in general (represented by Sōhyō). He was also one of the main people behind Prime Minister Eisaku Satō's foreign policy. In the mid-1970s, he was regarded as one of the most powerful men in Japan.

Nadao was born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1899. He graduated with a degree in jurisprudence from Tokyo Imperial University and joined the Home Ministry, rising to the position of Vice Minister^[1] pre-war.^[2] During the war, he served as Governor of Oita Prefecture.^[3]

After the war, Nadao became one of the main people who pushed through the 1954 Police Law (as Minister of Health and Welfare at the time).^[4] He was also a member of the "Taiwan faction" of Japanese politics, influencing the foreign policy of Prime Minister Eisaku Satō. He served as the chairman of the Diet Members' Talkfest on Japan-China Relations, visiting Taipei with a delegation to meet with Chiang Kai-Shek in 1959 (the first time any Japanese politician had done so since the cutting of ties with Taipei).^[5] In March 1973, Nadao created the LDP Members' Talkfest on Japan-China Relations.^[6]

As Education Minister, Nadao was one of the chairmen of the Education System Research Council.^[7] Under the premiership of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Nadao was hawkish towards the teacher's union, Nikkyoso, and the general council for trade unions, Sōhyō, arguing that teachers should not argue for better wages because they should teach based on their conviction and duty to their noble profession.^[8] His stand against Nikkyoso was what he was known for within the Ministry of Education, and lumped him in with other members of the "education-public peace" or "law and order" clique,^[7] or Bunkyo-chian zoku.^[4]

Nadao was also responsible for policies pushing national identity through education. In 1968, he voiced his support for teaching children about the Emperor of Japan, his descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the formation of the Japanese monarchy.^[9] He also called for an reevaluation of the 6-3-3-4 system (6 years of primary school, 3 years of junior secondary school, 3 years of senior secondary school, and 4 years of university).^[10]

After having served as Minister of Education multiple times, Nadao became a main member of the Education Committee of the LDP.^[2] In 1976, Nadao was named as one of the most powerful men in Japanese politics.^[11]

Books

• Anderson, Ronald Stone (1975). Education in Japan: a century of modern development. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education.
• Schoppa, Leonard James (11 March 2002). Education Reform in Japan: A Case of Immobilist Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-86516-1.
• Wei, C. X. George (2012). China-Taiwan Relations in a Global Context: Taiwan's Foreign Policy and Relations. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-60012-5.

Journals

• Armstrong, David G. (July 1976). "Educational Change and the Cultural Milieu: Misadventures in Post-War Japan and Their Implications for American Curriculum Workers". Peabody Journal of Education. 53 (4): 278–284. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
• Consulate-General of Japan, Chicago (1955). Japan Report. Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan.
• Consulate-General of Japan, Chicago (1961). Japan Report. Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan.
• Hsiao, Gene T. (December 1974). "Prospects for a New Sino-Japanese Relationship". The China Quarterly. 60: 720–749. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
• Johnson, Chalmers (January 1976). "Japan 1975: Mr. Clean Muddles Through". Asian Survey. 16 (1): 31–41. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
• Garson, Sheldon M. (May 1984). "The Imperial Bureaucracy and Labor Policy in Postwar Japan". The Journal of Asian Studies. 43 (3): 441–457. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
• Park, Yung H. (March 1982). ""Big Business" and Education Policy in Japan". Asian Survey. 22 (3): 315–336. Retrieved 14 May 2021.