Keizou Obuchi
Keizou Obuchi (小渕 恵三) was prime minister of Japan.
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History
Obuchi was elected to the diet in 1963 as a member of the LDP. He is the youngest elected representative in Japan's history, having been 26 at the time.
Obuchi served cabinet positions beginning in 1979. In 1989, as chief cabinet secretary, Obuchi announced the death of Emperor Showa and the new imperial name Heisei.
Ryuutarou Hashimoto resigned after poor results in the 1998 House of Councillors elections. Obuchi won the ensuing leadership contest and became prime minister on July 30th.
Obuchi now led a declining minority government. He formed a coalition with the Liberal Party in early 1999, and also recruited Komeito for the coalition by October.
Obuchi suffered a stroke on April 1st, 2000. He died while still holding office. Yoshirou Mori was then elected party leader and prime minister.