Kishi Nobusuke 1896-1991
Japanese politician

The brother of Sato Eisaku, he took the name of Kishi when he was adopted into his uncle's family. He entered the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce (1920) and during the interwar years was identified as one of the new bureaucrats (shinkanryo), who championed more extensive economic planning. While he served in the Japanese puppet-state of Manzhuguo (1936-39), he worked closely with the military in developing heavy industry. On returning to Japan, he became a vice-minister of Commerce and Industry, helping to place the economy on a war footing. He then served in the wartime cabinet of Tojo Hideki. After the war, he was imprisoned by the US occupation authorities but was released in 1948. In 1955 he helped to create the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), formed when the two major conservative parties merged. A controversial Prime Minister (1957-60), he ensured ratification of the renewed Security Treaty with the USA (1960) in the face of an opposition boycott in the Diet and massive public demonstrations. He resigned shortly afterwards, but remained influential within the LDP.