Sōsuke Uno

Sōsuke Uno
宇野 宗佑
Official portrait, 1989
Prime Minister of Japan
In office
3 June 1989  10 August 1989
MonarchAkihito
Preceded byNoboru Takeshita
Succeeded byToshiki Kaifu
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
In office
2 June 1989  8 August 1989
Secretary-GeneralRyutaro Hashimoto
Preceded byNoboru Takeshita
Succeeded byToshiki Kaifu
Ministerial offices
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
8 November 1987  3 June 1989
Prime MinisterNoboru Takeshita
Preceded byTadashi Kuranari
Succeeded byHiroshi Mitsuzuka
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office
10 June 1983  27 November 1983
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded bySadanori Yamanaka
Succeeded byHikosaburo Okonogi
Director-General of the Administrative Management Agency
In office
9 November 1979  17 July 1980
Prime MinisterMasayoshi Ōhira
Preceded byMotohiko Kanai
Succeeded byYasuhiro Nakasone
Director-General of the Science and Technology Agency
In office
24 December 1976  28 November 1977
Prime MinisterTakeo Fukuda
Preceded byMasao Maeda
Succeeded byTasaburo Kumagai
Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency
In office
11 November 1974  9 December 1974
Prime MinisterKakuei Tanaka
Preceded bySadanori Yamanaka
Succeeded byMichita Sakata
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
20 November 1960  20 October 1996
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyShiga at-large
Member of the Shiga Prefectural Assembly
In office
1951–1958
Personal details
Born(1922-08-27)27 August 1922
Moriyama, Shiga, Empire of Japan
Died19 May 1998(1998-05-19) (aged 75)
Moriyama, Shiga, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic
Other political
affiliations
Liberal (1945–1947)
Democratic (1947–1950)
Spouse
Chiyo Hirose
(m. 1949)
RelativesOsamu Uno (son-in-law)
Alma materKobe University of Commerce
Signature
Military career
Allegiance Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service1943–45
RankSecond Lieutenant
Battles / wars

Sōsuke Uno (宇野 宗佑, Uno Sōsuke; 27 August 1922 19 May 1998) was a Japanese politician and former Prime Minister of Japan.

Born in Shiga Prefecture, Uno enrolled in the Kobe College of Commerce before he was conscripted into the army during World War II. In 1960, he entered politics and was elected to the National Diet, becoming a leading Liberal Democratic Party member and a key ally of Yasuhiro Nakasone. Uno served as director of the Defense Agency under Kakuei Tanaka, as director of the Science and Technology Agency under Takeo Fukuda, and as director of the Administrative Management Agency under Masayoshi Ōhira.

He was briefly international trade and industry minister in 1983, and foreign minister in 1987–1989. In 1989, Uno became prime minister but served for only two months before he resigned after a poor showing in that year's upper house election, influenced by the lingering Recruit scandal and public financial scandal with an outspoken geisha.