Former Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sonoda Dies

November 12, 2018

Tokyo--Hiroyuki Sonoda, a Japanese House of Representatives lawmaker who once served as deputy chief cabinet secretary and acting policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, died of pneumonia on Sunday. He was 76.

Sonoda joined the ruling coalition that ousted the LDP from power in 1993. From 1994 to 1996, he assumed the post of deputy chief cabinet secretary in the coalition government of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama that included the LDP.

Sonoda left the LDP twice in search of realignment in the political world. He developed wide personal connections across the ruling-opposition lines and was known as an advocate of fiscal reconstruction through a consumption tax increase.

Born in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Sonoda was first elected to the Lower House in 1986 after the death of his father, former Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda. In the election, his rivalry with his stepmother, Tenkoko Sonoda, grabbed headlines. He has since been elected for 11 straight times.

He joined the LDP after the first election but left the party in 1993 after a no-confidence vote toppled the government of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.

Sonoda worked with Masayoshi Takemura in the establishment of a new political party called Sakigake and played a central role in the party.

He returned to the LDP in 1999. Amid the global financial crisis caused by the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008, Sonoda, as acting chairman of the party's Policy Research Council, led efforts to draw up an emergency economic package in collaboration with then Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano.

In the LDP, Sonoda and Yosano called for rebuilding debt-laden public finances through tax hikes, competing against a camp led by former LDP Secretary-General Hidenao Nakagawa, who prioritized measures to promote economic growth.

After the LDP lost the reins of government, Sonoda left the LDP again in 2010, together with Yosano. Working with then Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, Sonoda created the Sunrise Party of Japan in an attempt to create a third pole in Japanese politics.

Sonoda then shifted to three other political parties before returning to the LDP in 2015.

As Sakigake worked with the former Japan New Party in parliament, Sonoda was supported by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, both former members of the Japan New Party.

Since late 2017, Sonoda had repeatedly been admitted to hospital. Jiji Press