Tanaka Tatsuo

In this Japanese name, the surname is Tanaka.

Tatsuo Tanaka
田中 龍夫
Minister of Education
In office 17 July 1980 – 30 November 1981
Prime Minister	Zenko Suzuki
Preceded by	Sen'ichi Tanigaki
Succeeded by	Heiji Ogawa
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office 24 December 1976 – 28 November 1977
Prime Minister	Takeo Fukuda
Preceded by	Toshio Kōmoto
Succeeded by	Toshio Kōmoto
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political affairs)
In office 12 July 1957 – June 1958
Prime Minister	Nobusuke Kishi
Preceded by	Naokichi Kitazawa
Succeeded by	Shunichi Matsumoto
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 20 April 1953 – 24 January 1990
Constituency	Yamaguchi 1st
Governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture
In office 16 April 1947 – 24 March 1953
Preceded by	Ichirō Aoyagi
Succeeded by	Tarō Ozawa
Member of the House of Peers
In office 11 May 1946 – 2 May 1947
Personal details
Born	(1910-09-20)20 September 1910 Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan
Died	30 March 1998(1998-03-30) (aged 87)
Resting place	Tama Cemetery
Political party	LDP (1954–1998)
Other political affiliations	Independent (before 1954) JDP (1954–1955)
Parent	Tanaka Giichi (father)
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University

Tanaka Tatsuo (Japanese: 田中 龍夫, Tanaka Tatsuo; 20 September 1910 – March 30, 1998) was a Japanese politician and baron who served as Minister of Education from 1980 to 1981 and Minister of International Trade and Industry from 1976 to 1977.

He was the eldest son of Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi.

Early life and education

Born on September 20, 1910, in Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan, Tanaka was the eldest son of Tanaka Giichi, a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and future prime minister of Japan. After attending Gyosei High School, he entered Urawa High School (now Saitama University) and later enrolled in the Tokyo Imperial University. During this time, he inherited the title of baron following his father's death. He also married Takahashi Setsuko.

Bureaucratic career

After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1937, Tanaka joined the South Manchuria Railway. He later served as a researcher in the Planning Agency, a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Munitions, and a secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Shimada Toshio during the Koiso Cabinet.

Following the end of World War II, Tanaka was appointed as a secretary to Minister of Commerce and Industry Ogasawara Mikio in the Shidehara Cabinet.

Political career

On May 11, 1946, he was elected to the House of Peers as a baron, where he served until its abolition on May 2, 1947. That same year, he was elected as the first governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture under the public election system.

In 1953, Tanaka resigned as governor midway through his second term to run as an independent candidate in the 26th House of Representatives election. He was elected from the old Yamaguchi 1st district and subsequently joined the Japan Liberal Party. He later followed Nobusuke Kishi, his senior from the same prefecture, into the newly formed Japan Democratic Party.

Tanaka joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) upon its formation through a merger of conservative parties. He held various positions including Minister of International Trade and Industry during the Takeo Fukuda Cabinet, and Minister of Education during the Zenkō Suzuki Cabinet (July 17, 1980 - November 30, 1981). In 1981, he was appointed as the LDP General Council Chairman under Prime Minister Zenkō Suzuki.

Later life and death

Tanaka retired from politics following the dissolution of the House of Representatives in 1990. That same year, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. He died on March 30, 1998, at the age of 87. He is buried in Tama Cemetery.