NAKASONE Yasuhiro

Yasuhiro Nakasone was a lieutenant commander in the Japanese navy during World War II. In 1947 he was elected to the House of Representatives. Because of his past military experience, he was called the “young officer” (青年将校) when he was a young Diet member. Up until the conservative alliance (保守合同) and the formation of the Liberal Democratic Party (自民党), he followed an experienced Diet member, Hitoshi Ashida, joining the Democratic Party of Japan (民主党), the National Democratic Party (国民民主党), the Reform Party (改進党), and the Japan Democratic Party (日本民主党) ; the two politicians both called for remilitarization and constitutional revision.

Nakasone served as Prime Minister from 1982 to 1987. He strengthened US-Japan relations and built a good relationship with President Ronald Reagan. Both men embraced a conservative neoliberal ideology and close relationship between the two leaders was known as the “Ron-Yasu (Ronald and Yasuhiro) Relationship.”

In 1988 he was mainly involved with the Japan Defense Agency (now Ministry of Defense) and other organizations related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nakasone also became head of the World Peace Institute when it was established. In 2018, the name of the institute was changed to the Nakasone Peace Institute. He was never able to see his long-held dream of constitutional revision materialize. In 2019 he passed away at the age of 101.

He drafted a constitution as an unofficial proposal in 1961, and it was published 36 years later. The proposal suggested Japan introduce the direct election of the Prime Minister; make the Emperor the head of state, let prime minister have the authority to command and supervise the "self-defense army" (自衛軍); and the army exercise the right to collective self-defense.