Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Dies at 90

Yasuo Fukuda, Japan's 91st prime minister, died of heart failure on Oct. 22 at a Tokyo hospital at age 90; the Liberal Democratic Party announced the death on Oct. 26. He held office from Sept. 26, 2007 to Sept. 24, 2008 after winning LDP leadership over Taro Aso following Shinzo Abe's resignation, and was the first son of a former prime minister, Takeo Fukuda, to become prime minister. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, he had served as chief cabinet secretary under Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi. In 2008 he invited Chinese President Hu Jintao for the first Chinese presidential visit to Japan in ten years and agreed to build a "strategic, mutually beneficial relationship." He attended South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration that year; no sitting Japanese prime minister has done so since. Asked about Yasukuni Shrine visits when he took office, Fukuda said, "Do we need to do something the other side dislikes?" In July 2014 he met Xi Jinping in China to help repair relations after Abe's December 2013 Yasukuni visit. He is survived by son Tatsuo Fukuda, a lawmaker viewed as a potential future prime minister. CONTESTED: no contested claims found.