Murayama Cabinet

The Murayama Cabinet (村山内閣, Murayama naikaku) governed Japan under the leadership of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama from 1994 until a 1995 Cabinet reshuffle. Murayama was elected prime minister by the National Diet on 29 June 1994 after the threat of a no-confidence vote had brought down the previous minority Hata Cabinet. Murayama's and his cabinet's formal investiture by the Emperor took place one day later.

Murayama Cabinet
81st Cabinet of Japan
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama (front row, centre) and cabinet at the Kantei, June 30, 1994
Date formed	June 30, 1994
Date dissolved	August 8, 1995
People and organisations
Head of state	Emperor Akihito
Head of government	Tomiichi Murayama
Deputy head of government	Yōhei Kōno (1994-95) Ryutaro Hashimoto (1995-96)
Member party	LDP–Socialist–New Party Sakigake Coalition
Status in legislature	Coalition majority
Opposition party	Japan Renewal Party (1994) New Frontier Party (1994-96)
Opposition leader	Tsutomu Hata (1994) Toshiki Kaifu (1994-95) Ichirō Ozawa (1995-96)
History
Election	1995 councillors election
Predecessor	Hata Cabinet
Successor	First Hashimoto Cabinet (Reshuffle)

The coalition cabinet consisted of 13 Liberal Democrats, six Socialists (including the Prime Minister) and two members of New Party Sakigake. All ministers were members of the Diet, the only woman in the cabinet was science and technology minister Makiko Tanaka.

The government lasted until January 5, 1996, when Murayama announced his resignation. The 3-party coalition continued under LDP leadership with Deputy Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto becoming the new prime minister on January 11.^[1]

Election of the prime minister

The decision by the LDP to support the leader of their traditional rival, the Socialists, for prime minister caused a split in party ranks. Former LDP Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu announced that he was leaving the party and was put forward by the anti-LDP coalition parties led by Tsutomu Hata and Ichirō Ozawa as their candidate for prime minister when the vote was held on June 29.^[2]

29 June 1994
Absolute majority (256/511) required

House of Representatives
Choice		First Vote
		Votes
	Tomiichi Murayama	241 / 511
	Toshiki Kaifu	220 / 511
	Tetsuzo Fuwa	15 / 511
	Yohei Kono	5 / 511
	Blank Ballot	23 / 511
	Abstentions (Including Speaker and Deputy)	7 / 511
Source Political Data: Japanese Politics 1994

Since no candidate gained an absolute majority in the first round, a runoff vote between Murayama and Kaifu was held later the same day, with Murayama being elected with the support of the Japan Socialist Party, New Party Sakigake and the majority of the LDP.

29 June 1994
Simple majority required

House of Representatives
Choice		Runoff Vote
		Votes
	YTomiichi Murayama	261 / 511
	Toshiki Kaifu	214 / 511
	Blank Ballot	29 / 511
	Abstentions (Including Speaker and Deputy)	7 / 511
Source Political Data: Japanese Politics 1994

List of ministers

  Socialist
  Liberal Democratic
  New Party Sakigake
  Independent
R = Member of the House of Representatives
C = Member of the House of Councillors

Cabinet

Murayama Cabinet from 30 June 1994 to 8 August 1995

Portfolio	Minister		Term of office	Diet membership
Prime Minister		Tomiichi Murayama	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Ōita 1
Deputy Prime Minister		Yōhei Kōno	June 30, 1994 - October 2, 1995	R	Kanagawa 3
Minister of Foreign Affairs			June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996
Minister of Justice		Isao Maeda	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	C	Wakayama
Minister of Finance		Masayoshi Takemura	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Shiga at-large
Minister of Education		Kaoru Yosano	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Tokyo 1
Minister of Welfare		Shōichi Ide	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Nagano 2
Minister of Agriculture		Taichirō Ōgawara	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	C	national proportional
Minister of Trade and Industry		Ryūtarō Hashimoto	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Okayama 2
Minister of Transportation		Shizuka Kamei	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Hiroshima 3
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications		Shun Ōide	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Kanagawa 4
Minister of Labour		Mansō Hamamoto	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	C	Hiroshima
Minister of Construction		Koken Nosaka	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Tottori at-large
Minister of Home Affairs Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission		Hiromu Nonaka	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Kyoto 2
Chief Cabinet Secretary		Kōzō Igarashi	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Hokkaidō 2
Director of the Management and Coordination Agency		Tsuruo Yamaguchi	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Gunma 3
Director of the Hokkaidō Development Agency Director of the Okinawa Development Agency		Sadayoshi Ozato	June 30, 1994 - January 20, 1995	R	Kagoshima 2
		Kiyoshi Ozawa	January 20, 1995 - August 8, 1995	R	Tokyo 7
Director of the Defense Agency		Masahiko Kōmura	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Yamaguchi 2
Director of the Economic Planning Agency		Tokuichirō Tamazawa	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Iwate 1
Director of the Science and Technology Agency		Makiko Tanaka	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Niigata 3
Director of the Environment Agency		Shin Sakurai	June 30, 1994 - August 14, 1994	R	Niigata 3
		Sōhei Miyashita	August 14, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Nagano 3
Director of the National Land Agency		Kiyoshi Ozawa	June 30, 1994 - August 8, 1995	R	Tokyo 7
Minister of State (Disaster management)		Sadayoshi Ozato	January 20, 1995 - August 8, 1995	R	Kagoshima 2

Changes

• August 14, 1994 - Environment Minister Shin Sakurai resigned after making controversial statements related to Japan's role in the Second World War and was replaced with Sohei Miyashita^[3]
• January 20, 1995 - Sadayoshi Ozato was moved to become the Director of the Disaster Management Agency in response to the Great Hanshin earthquake, and was replaced as minister for Okinawa and Hokkaido development by Kiyoshi Ozawa.

Other positions

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries	Hiroyuki Sonoda	NPH	HR, Kumamoto 2
	Nobuo Ishihara (until 24 February 1995)	–	–
	Teijirō Furukawa (from 24 February 1995)	–	–
Legislation Bureau	Takao Ōde	–	–

Reshuffled cabinet

Murayama Cabinet (Reshuffle)
81st Cabinet of Japan
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama (front row, centre) and his reshuffled cabinet at the Kantei, August 8, 1995
Date formed	August 8, 1995
Date dissolved	January 11, 1996
People and organisations
Head of state	Emperor Akihito
Head of government	Tomiichi Murayama
Deputy head of government	Yōhei Kōno (1994-95) Ryutaro Hashimoto (1995-96)
Member party	LDP–Socialist–New Party Sakigake Coalition
Status in legislature	Coalition majority
Opposition party	Japan Renewal Party (1994) New Frontier Party (1994-96)
Opposition leader	Tsutomu Hata (1994) Toshiki Kaifu (1994-95) Ichirō Ozawa (1995-96)
History
Election	1995 councillors election
Predecessor	Murayama Cabinet
Successor	First Hashimoto Cabinet

Murayama Cabinet from 8 August 1995 to January 11, 1996

Portfolio	Minister		Term of Office	Diet membership
Prime Minister		Tomiichi Murayama	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Ōita 1
Deputy Prime Minister		Yōhei Kōno	June 30, 1994 - October 2, 1995	R	Kanagawa 3
		Ryūtarō Hashimoto	October 2, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Okayama 2
Minister of Foreign Affairs		Yōhei Kōno	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Kanagawa 3
Minister of Justice		Tomoharu Tazawa	August 8, 1995 - October 9, 1995	C	National Proportional
		Hiroshi Miyazawa	October 9, 1995 - January 11, 1996	C	Hiroshima
Minister of Finance		Masayoshi Takemura	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Shiga At-large
Minister of Education		Yoshinobu Shimamura	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Tokyo 10th
Minister of Welfare		Tadayoshi Morii	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Hiroshima 2nd
Minister of Agriculture		Hosei Norota	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Akita 1st
Minister of Trade and Industry		Ryūtarō Hashimoto	June 30, 1994 - January 11, 1996	R	Okayama 2nd
Minister of Transportation		Takeo Hiranuma	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Okayama 1st
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications		Issei Inoue	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Osaka 3rd
Minister of Labour		Shinji Aoki	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	C	Shizuoka
Minister of Construction		Yoshirō Mori	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Ishikawa 1st
Minister of Home Affairs Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission		Takashi Fukaya	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Tokyo 8th
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minister for Disaster Relief and Reconstruction		Koken Nosaka	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Tottori At-large
Director of the Management and Coordination Agency		Takami Eto	August 8, 1995 - November 13, 1995	R	Miyazaki 1st
		Masateru Nakayama	November 13 - January 11, 1996	R	Osaka 2nd
Director of the Hokkaidō Development Agency Director of the Okinawa Development Agency		Masaaki Takagi	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	C	Hokkaidō
Director of the Defense Agency		Seishiro Etō	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Oita 1st
Director of the Economic Planning Agency		Isamu Miyazaki	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	-	Not in the Diet
Director of the Science and Technology Agency		Yasuoki Urano	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Aichi 4th
Director of the Environment Agency		Tadamori Oshima	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Aomori 1st
Director of the National Land Agency		Seiichi Ikehata	August 8, 1995 - January 11, 1996	R	Hokkaido 4th

Changes

• October 2 - Following the 1995 LDP Leadership election Ryutaro Hashimoto became LDP President and replaced Yōhei Kōno as deputy prime minister. Both retained their ministerial portfolios.
• October 9 - Justice minister Tomoharu Tazawa resigned following a campaign finance scandal, and was replaced by Hiroshi Miyazawa.^[4]
• November 13 - Takami Eto resigned as Director of the Management and Co-ordination agency following controversial remarks about the treatment of conquered peoples during the Second World War, and was replaced by Masateru Nakayama.^[5]