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Tetsu Katayama 片山 哲
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 24 May 1947 – 10 March 1948
Monarch	Shōwa
Governor	Douglas MacArthur
Preceded by	Shigeru Yoshida
Succeeded by	Hitoshi Ashida
Personal details
Born	(1887-07-28)28 July 1887 Tanabe, Japan
Died	30 May 1978(1978-05-30) (aged 90)
Political party	Democratic Socialist Party (1928–1978)
Other political affiliations	Socialist Party (Before 1948)
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University
Religion	Presbyterianism
Signature

Tetsu Katayama (片山 哲, Katayama Tetsu^?, July 28, 1887 – May 30, 1978) was a Japanese politician and the 46th Prime Minister from May 24, 1947 to March 10, 1948.

  Early life

He was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, and attended Tokyo Imperial University. Raised in the Christian faith, he was strongly influenced by the Christian Socialism of Abe Isoo. After graduating, he opened a law office in a rented YMCA dormitory, and worked as an attorney.

  Early political life

Katayama joined the Japan Socialist Party and was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1930. He became known as a leader of the "social democratic wing" of the party, and joined Abe Isoo and Nishio Suehiro in opposing the expulsion of Saitō Takao.

  Prime Minister and later life

In 1945, Katayama became secretary general and committee chairman of the party. Following the 1947 elections, in which the Socialist Party came in first, Katayama formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party and the Citizens' Cooperation Party. Despite being a short-lived administration, Katayama's government was responsible for the enactment of a wide range of progressive social reforms, such as the establishment of Japans first Labour Ministry,^[1] an Unemployment Compensation Act and an Unemployment Insurance Act, and the overhaul revision of the Civil Code, whose section on the family institution was completely rewritten (to provide, for instance the eldest son a greater inheritance share).^[2] The Law for the Elimination of Excessive Economic Concentration (passed in December 1947) provided for the dissolution of any company considered to be monopolistic,^[3] In addition, the “law on the expulsion of Zaibatsu-affiliated controls” of January 1948 enforced the resignation of Zaibatsu board members who were related closely to Zaibatsu families, while a measure was taken to ban on holding the concurrent board posts of their affiliated companies.^[4]

The influence of left-wing socialists such as Suzuki Mosaburō forced Katayama to resign early in his term. After his resignation, Katayama became a member of the Democratic Socialist Party and advocated the maintenance of the pacifist constitution, election reform, and formation of a global commonwealth.

He bears the distinction of having been the first socialist to serve as Prime Minister of Japan.

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Prime Ministers of Japan (List) H. Itō Kuroda Sanjō Yamagata Matsukata H. Itō Kuroda Matsukata H. Itō Ōkuma Yamagata H. Itō Saionji Katsura Saionji Katsura Saionji Katsura Yamamoto Ōkuma Terauchi Hara Uchida Takahashi To. Katō Uchida Yamamoto Kiyoura Ta. Katō Wakatsuki G. Tanaka Hamaguchi Shidehara Hamaguchi Wakatsuki Inukai Takahashi Saitō Okada Gotō Okada Hirota Hayashi Konoe Hiranuma N. Abe Yonai Konoe Tōjō Koiso K. Suzuki Higashikuni Shidehara Yoshida Katayama Ashida Yoshida I. Hatoyama Ishibashi Kishi Ikeda Satō K. Tanaka Miki T. Fukuda Ōhira M. Itō Z. Suzuki Nakasone Takeshita Uno Kaifu Miyazawa Hosokawa Hata Murayama Hashimoto Obuchi Aoki Mori Koizumi S. Abe Y. Fukuda Aso Y. Hatoyama Kan Noda Italics denote acting Prime Ministers

  References