Yukio Hatoyama, Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Japan; member of the House of Representatives; President of the Russia-Japan Society
Yukio Hatoyama was born on February 11, 1947 in Tokyo into the family of a prominent Japanese politician Ichiro Hatoyama, a former Foreign Minister. Mr Hatoyama's grandfather, Ichiro Hatoyama, was the first President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Soviet-Japanese diplomatic relations were restored during the latter's tenure as Prime Minister. In 1956, he signed a Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration in Moscow.
In 1969, Mr Hatoyama graduated from the Technical Department of Tokyo University and subsequently received a PhD in engineering at Stanford University; he holds a PhD from the Management Department of Senshyu University.
Mr Hatoyama began his political career in 1986 when he was first elected a member of the House of Representatives on the LDP ballot. He has been reelected six times.
In 1993, he left the LDP after the no confidence vote against the Miyazawa Cabinet and joined the newly established Sakigake Party as its deputy chairman.
In July 1993, for the first time in the post-war period the non-LDP Japanese Government was formed with Morihiro Hosokawa as the Prime Minister. Mr Hatoyama was appointed the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and in this capacity took part in the events organised during President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Japan in October 1993.
In September 1999, he was elected President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition party in the country. In September 2004, Mr Hatoyama was appointed Foreign Minister in the DPJ shadow government. He was DPJ Executive Secretary and is now DPJ Secretary General.
Mr Hatoyama has a great interest in Russia and has frequently visited the country. He has met with Russian leaders on numerous occasions, including the meeting with President Putin during his official visit to Japan in November 2005. Mr Hatoyama was actively involved in the preparation and activities of the Moscow Public Forum (October 2006), dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration.
Mr Hatoyama takes a conservative approach to the so-called contested territories issue in Russian-Japanese relations. During his meetings with Russian leaders, he refers to the contested islands issue as an "unfortunate" impediment to full-scale bilateral cooperation in various areas.
Married, with a son.
