Fortune did not smile on Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto when he sought the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the premiership, for a second time in April 2001. He was badly defeated by Mr. Junichiro Koizumi. But Mr. Hashimoto, prime minister from January 1996 to July 1998, who died over the weekend at the age of 68, is credited with leaving a legacy of reform that Mr. Koizumi inherited and expanded to push his own policy agenda.
As head of the coalition government of the LDP, the Japan Socialist Party and Sakigake, a minor conservative group, the reform-mined Mr. Hashimoto reorganized the government structure into the current form -- 12 ministries and agencies plus the Cabinet Office. He introduced a decision-making system in which the prime minister took a stronger initiative -- a style used by Mr. Koizumi. He also began the "big bang" series of financial market-deregulation moves.
Mr. Hashimoto struck an agreement with U.S. President Bill Clinton to expand Japan-U.S. security cooperation, which became the foundation for the close security ties affirmed between the two countries under the Koizumi administration.