Kishi, Nobusuke

Kishi, Nobusuke nōbo͝osˈkā kēˈshē [key], 1896–1987, Japanese statesman; older brother of Eisaku Sato. The son of a minor official, he went to live with prosperous relatives and took their name. After attending the law college of Tokyo Univ., he entered government service in 1920, rising to high office in the ministry of commerce and industry. After 1935 he played a key role in the industrial development of Manchukuo. During World War II he was minister of commerce and industry in Hideki Tojo's cabinet; he was imprisoned for three years after the war. As secretary-general of the postwar Democratic party, he was instrumental in uniting all conservative factions into the powerful Liberal Democratic party (1955). He became party president and prime minister in 1957, but widespread public agitation over the new United States-Japan Security Treaty forced Kishi to resign from both posts in 1960. He was succeeded by Hayato Ikeda.

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