Hatoyama Ichiro

Born Jan. 1, 1883, in Tokyo; died there Mar. 7, 1959. Japanese state figure.

After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1907. Ha-toyama took up the practice of law. He became a leader of the Seiyukai Party in 1927 and served as minister of education from 1931 to 1934. During World War II, Hatoyama joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. After Japan’s defeat in November 1945 he formed the Liberal Party; he was the party’s chairman until May 1946, when, in a purge of civil servants and political figures conducted by the American occupation authorities, he was barred from political office.

After the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, Hatoyama reentered politics. As president of the Democratic Party (reorganized as the Liberal-Democratic Party in 1955), he was prime minister from 1954 through December 1956. On Oct. 19, 1956, in Moscow he signed for the Japanese government a joint declaration by the USSR and Japan ending the state of war and resuming normal diplomatic relations between the two countries. From 1957 to 1959, Hatoyama was president of the Japan-USSR Society.