= Tarou Asou = '''Tarou Asou''' ('''麻生 太郎''') was [[Japan/PrimeMinisters|prime minister of Japan]]. <> ---- == History == Asou was elected to the diet in 1979 for the [[Japan/LiberalDemocraticParty|LDP]]. A member of the nationalist '''Nippon Kaigi''' ('''日本会議''', ''Japan Conference''), Asou advocated for aggressive confrontation of geopolitical rivals. Both rivals in leadership contests and both members of the organization, [[Japan/ShinzoAbe|Abe]] was considered ''moderate'' compared to Asou. After [[Japan/YasuoFukuda|Yasuo Fukuda]] announced his surprise resignation, Asou won the ensuing leadership contest. He became prime minister on September 24th, 2008. The LDP saw poor results in regional elections in early 2009, which is commonly attributed to the worsening economy. Once the budget for fiscal year 2009 was passed, Asou called snap elections scheduled for August 30th, 2009. The LDP lost in a landslide, handing power to the [[Japan/DemocraticPartyOfJapan|Democratic Party of Japan]]. Asou resigned as party leader. Asou returned to the cabinet in 2012 as Abe's deputy prime minister. ---- CategoryRicottone