User:Francoisealey/Kaku-Fuku war

Kakuei Tanaka

Takeo Fukuda

The Kaku-Fuku war (Japanese: 角福戦争, romanized: Kakufukusensō) was an internal conflict within the Liberal Democratic Party between factions in support of Kakuei Tanaka and Takeo Fukuda. Lasting from 1970 to 1987, the rivalry between the faction heads dominated the LDP's internal politics, spanning multiple ministries and illustrated the strength of machine politics in Japan.

The conflict's origins lay in the decision of Eisaku Satō's decision not to seek re-election to the office of prime minister, due to low public approval in his cabinet. After the fall of the Tanaka's cabinet due to corruption scandals surrounding his government, and the promotion of Takeo Miki as prime minister due to his support from the Fukuda faction, both men were given positions in the new administration. With the outbreak of the Lockheed scandal, however, Tanaka and Fukuda cooperated to forment the downfall of the Miki cabinet. In the aftermath of the fall of the Miki government, Fukuda agreed to a deal with Masayoshi Ohira's faction to limit his administration to one term. However, after Fukuda backtracked on the agreement, the LDP presidency was jointly contested by both factions. Tanaka's faction, low profile due to the Lockheed scandal and the alliance between Ōhira and Fukuda's factions, mobilized in support of Ōhira, causing Fukuda to lose the election. The First Ōhira Cabinet was then formed, and his position as Prime Minister lasted, with Tanaka's backing, until his death in 1980. Zenkō Suzuki formed a government in the aftermath of the 1980 Japanese general election, which strengthened Tanaka's position in the party as a kingmaker. After Suzuki's resignation, Tanaka supported Yasuhiro Nakasone in the subsequent leadership election, which resulted in his victory over Shintaro Abe, who was supported by the Fukuda faction. In 1985, during the Second Nakasone Cabinet, Noboru Takeshita and a coalition of other Tanaka faction members rebelled, and split off to form their own factional group. Tanaka suffered a stroke during the crisis, and his faction collapsed, with many of his faction's legislators joining the Takeshita faction in his absence. The Kaku-Fuku war subsequently ended after the dissolution of the Tanaka faction.

Background

The two political factions were based on local supporters' associations, known for their advocation for pork barrel spending, and their management of their faction's large financial resources. Tanaka's largest support group was known as the Etsuzankai (Japanese: 越山会, lit. 'Niigata Mountain Association'), which was known for advocating for local infastructure and public works projects around Niigata as a means of subsidizing the region, and his party faction, the "Thursday Club" (Japanese: 木曜クラブ), while Fukuda's support base consisted of several seperate groups: his party faction, the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (Japanese: 清和政策研究会, lit. 'Seiwa Political Research Council'), and the "National Conference for the Realization of Era Name Legislation" (Japanese: 元号法制化実現国民会議), which evolved into the group known as Nippon Kaigi. While Fukuda's faction possessed a core on the ideological right of the party, with his faction being directly descended from Nobusuke Kishi's support base, Tanaka's faction lacked a cohesive political direction, mainly representing the direct interests of the groups supporting it.

References

Bibliography

Johnson, Chalmers (1986). "Tanaka Kakuei, Structural Corruption, and the Advent of Machine Politics in Japan". The Journal of Japanese Studies.

Baerwald, Hans; Hashimoto, Akira (1982). "Japan in 1982: Doing Nothing is Best?". Asian Survey.