The First Mori Cabinet briefly governed Japan between April and July 2000, after the sudden incapacitation of Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi and his replacement by Yoshirō Mori, who had been LDP Secretary General. Mori called his government "the Japan revival cabinet", but made no personnel changes when he took office, pledging to retain Obuchi's ministers, maintain the 3-party coalition and continue his policies to try to revive the economy.[1][2][3]

First Mori Cabinet

85th Cabinet of Japan
Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori (front row, centre) with the newly-elected cabinet inside the Kantei, April 5, 2000
Date formedApril 5, 2000
Date dissolvedJuly 4, 2000
People and organisations
Head of stateEmperor Akihito
Head of governmentYoshirō Mori
Member partyLDP-NKP-NCP coalition
Status in legislatureMajority coalition
Opposition partyDemocratic Party of Japan
Opposition leaderYukio Hatoyama
History
PredecessorObuchi Cabinet
(Second Reshuffle)
SuccessorSecond Mori Cabinet

Mori proved an unpopular Prime Minister due to a series of gaffes and the manner of his coming to power, and called early general elections for June 2000 to pre-empt a continuing decline in the LDP's poll numbers.[4][5] In the elections, the LDP lost the majority that it had built up through opposition defections since 1996, but the coalition held enough seats to retain government.[6] Therefore, the cabinet was dissolved in July when Mori was re-elected by the National Diet and replaced with the Second Mori Cabinet.

Election of the prime minister

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5 April 2000
House of Representatives
Absolute majority (251/500) required
Choice First Vote
Votes
 YYoshirō Mori
335 / 500
Yukio Hatoyama
95 / 500
Others and Abstentions (Including blank ballots)
70 / 500
Source Diet Minutes - 147th Session Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine

List of ministers

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  Liberal Democratic
  New Komeito
  New Conservative
  Independent
R = Member of the House of Representatives
C = Member of the House of Councillors

Cabinet

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First Mori Cabinet from April 5, 2000 to July 4, 2000
Portfolio Minister Term of Office
Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori R April 5, 2000 - April 26, 2001
Minister of Justice Hideo Usui R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Foreign Affairs Yōhei Kōno R October 5, 1999 - April 26, 2001
Minister of Finance Kiichi Miyazawa R July 30, 1998 - April 26, 2001
Minister of Education
Director of the Science and Technology Agency
Hirofumi Nakasone C October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Health and Welfare Yuya Niwa R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tokuichiro Tamazawa R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of International Trade and Industry Takashi Fukaya R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Transport
Director of the Hokkaido Development Agency
Toshihiro Nikai R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Eita Yashiro R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Labour Takamori Makino R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Construction
Director of the National Land Agency
Masaaki Nakayama R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Minister of Home Affairs
Director of the National Public Safety Commission
Kosuke Hori R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Chief Cabinet Secretary
Director of the Okinawa Development Agency
Mikio Aoki C October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission Sadakazu Tanigaki R February 25, 2000 - July 4, 2000
Director of the Management and Coordination Agency Kunihiro Tsuzuki C October 5, 1999 - December 5, 2000
Director of the Japan Defense Agency Tsutomu Kawara R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Director of the Economic Planning Agency Taichi Sakaiya - July 30, 1998 - December 5, 2000
Director of the Environment Agency Kayoko Shimizu C October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Deputy Secretaries
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs - House of Representatives) Fukushiro Nukaga R October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs - House of Councillors) Soichiro Matsutani C October 5, 1999 - July 4, 2000
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) Teijiro Furukawa - February 24, 1995 - September 22, 2003

References

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  1. ^ "Announcement by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori". Kantei. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Schmetzer, Uli (6 April 2000). "Many Japanese Not Sold On Leader They Didn't Choose". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "Mori pledges Japan 'rebirth'". BBC News. 7 April 2000. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "Mori defies his poll rating and calls election". Irish Times. 3 June 2000. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "Mori set to dissolve Diet for elections on June 25". The Japan Times. 2 June 2000. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ French, Howard W. (26 June 2000). "GOVERNING PARTY IN JAPAN SUFFERS ELECTION SETBACK". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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