Yukio Hatoyama

Yukio Hatoyama (鳩山 由紀夫, Hatoyama Yukio, born 11 February 1947) is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 2 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoyama became President of the DPJ, the main opposition party, in May 2009. He then led the party to victory in the August 2009 general election, defeating the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He represented the Hokkaido 9th district in the House of Representatives from 1986 to 2012.

Early life and family

Hatoyama comes from a prominent Japanese political family which has been likened to the Kennedy family of the United States.

Hatoyama, who was born in Bunkyō, Tokyo, is a fourth generation politician. His paternal great-grandfather, Kazuo Hatoyama, was speaker of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan from 1896 to 1897 during the Meiji era. Kazuo later served as the president of Waseda University. His paternal great-grandmother, Haruko Hatoyama, was a co-founder of what is known today as Kyoritsu Women's University. His paternal grandfather, Ichirō Hatoyama, was a major politician; he served as Prime Minister and was a founder and the first President of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1956. As Prime Minister, he restored diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, which cleared the way for Japan's membership in the United Nations.