![Former Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo, who died at the age of 90. The photo shows Fukuda at a press conference in 2007. [Reuters]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/10/26/news-p.v1.20261026.3b51da6817e44297b6bcfc1c1d3450b8_P1.jpg)
Fukuda Yasuo, the former Japanese prime minister credited with working to improve Japan's ties with South Korea, China and other Asian nations, has died at the age of 90.
Kyodo News and the Nikkei, among other Japanese media outlets, reported Monday that Fukuda died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital on Thursday. He served as prime minister from September 2007 to September 2008.
The son of former Prime Minister Fukuda Takeo, he made history upon taking office as the first father-and-son pair to serve as prime minister in Japan's constitutional history. He entered politics at 53 after winning a seat in the old Gunma 3rd district in the 1990 lower house election, going on to win seven consecutive terms. In 2000, he joined the cabinet for the first time as chief cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro.
Fukuda was considered a dove within the Liberal Democratic Party who consistently stressed the importance of diplomacy with Asia. Shortly after taking office, when reporters asked about visits to Yasukuni Shrine, he replied, "Is there any need to do something the other side dislikes?" In 2008, he reached an agreement with then-Chinese President Hu Jintao, who was visiting Japan, to develop a "strategic, mutually beneficial relationship." With South Korea, he held a summit with then-President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, emphasizing the need to build a forward-looking bilateral relationship.
Fukuda stepped down from politics by not seeking reelection in the 2012 lower house election, but he continued pursuing ways to repair the then-strained relationship between China and Japan. In 2014, he visited China and met with President Xi Jinping, helping lay the groundwork for a subsequent meeting between Xi and then-Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
kate01@heraldcorp.com
