Former DPM Sadakazu Kurahashi dies [25/09/2020]

YOKOBUCHI- Sadakazu Kurahashi, the former Deputy Prime Minister who served for six and a half years under Seiji Itō’s first four cabinets, has died at the age of 90, one week shy of his 91st birthday.

Kurahashi’s granddaughter Nagako Kurahashi, who spoke to media earlier this morning, confirmed a previously unverified report that the former DPM had died of heart failure at 5:45AM, following a brief stay in hospital to treat an unrelated condition.

“This morning, we lost one of the most fearless and unwavering champions of our early democracy”, Prime Minister Yoichi Arikawa wrote on his website and social media profiles. “Sadakazu Kurahashi was a true trailblazer of freedom and independence. Let us all do our utmost to uphold his indelible legacy.”

“Sacchan was my most reliable ally and my closest friend through thick and thin”, wrote former Prime Minister Seiji Itō in a brief post on his personal blog, referring to the late DPM by his affectionate nickname. “Godspeed my brother.”

“We would all do well to learn from the example of Sadakazu Kurahashi, who always gave his all to stand for what he believed was right”, Interim Opposition Leader Kōhei Kanno wrote on his social media profiles. “His legacy will be a inspiration for everyone, regardless of political beliefs.”

Serving as DPM from Itō’s appointment in 1999, up till the middle of 2006, Kurahashi was the longest serving Deputy Prime Minister. A linguist and economist by training, he was one of nineteen public intellectuals known as the Nineteen Ronin detained under General Hiroki Kita’s 1994 Classified Order who later went on to win parliamentary seats in the 1996 General Election that saw the fall of the military junta. During his subsequent tenure as DPM, Kurahashi was known as a quiet but plucky foil to Seiji Itō’s firebrand style of politics, at times clashing with his superior over various contentious issues. He is survived by two grandsons and a granddaughter, as well as a single son from whom both he and his grandchildren are reportedly estranged.

With Kurahashi’s death, only three of the Nineteen Ronin remain. They are former Prime Minister Seiji Itō, 81; former Minister of Education under the Ōoka Cabinet Toshinori Sakura, 96; and former Chief Cabinet Secretary under the Itō I and II Cabinets Kanji Tōjō, 83.

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