Ex-PM Tomiichi Murayama Dies: A Pragmatist Who Overcame Divisions between Conservatives, Reformists

Editorial

16:52 JST, October 18, 2025

Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama overcame the so-called 1955 system, in which conservatives and reformists were locked in a fierce rivalry, while he ran the government around the time of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. He tackled issues that had been pending for years, leaving his mark during a period of political transition.

Murayama died at 101. As head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, previously the Japan Socialist Party, he served as prime minister from 1994 to 1996 under a coalition government with the Liberal Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake. He was known for his iconic long white eyebrows and affectionately called “Ton-chan.”

The SDPJ was among the eight non-LDP forces — seven parties and one parliamentary group — that joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa when it was established in 1993. After the Cabinet of Tsutomu Hata, Hosokawa’s successor, collapsed, Murayama was chosen as the prime minister with support from the LDP, which had been aiming to return to power. He became the second leader of the socialist party to assume the premiership after Tetsu Katayama, who was prime minister from 1947 to 1948.

As the LDP led the conservatives and the socialist party led the reformists during the Cold War, a coalition between the two parties surprised the public as an event that symbolized the end of an era.

After becoming prime minister, the basic policies of the SDPJ, such as aiming to abolish the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and deeming the Self-Defense Forces unconstitutional, were completely reversed by Murayama. He expressed his commitment to maintaining the Japan-U.S. security framework while also stating that the SDF was constitutional.

The SDPJ’s change in stance to some extent brought an end to the debate that the party had long had with the LDP over Article 9 of the Constitution. This move marked the starting point for the current political situation in which the ruling and opposition parties engage in pragmatic discussions on the nation’s security policy, an achievement to which credit can be given to Murayama.

Ironically, however, the SDPJ’s shift toward pragmatism made the party less distinctive, which became one of the factors for it to subsequently stagnate and lose strength.

Murayama also tackled issues involving the perceptions of history in the postwar period.

On Aug. 15, 1995, Murayama released a statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which he expressed his “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology” over Japan’s past “colonial rule and aggression.”

The stance expressed in Murayama’s statement has been upheld by the cabinets of his successors, including then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his statement released in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Murayama’s statement is one of the important documents that have formed the Japanese government’s fundamental perceptions of history.

In the wake of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the government faced criticism for the delays in its initial responses. The disaster raised questions over Murayama’s leadership skills and the government’s failure to have a crisis management system in place, resulting in major issues regarding how to respond to disasters.

Murayama served as prime minister amid political instability due to the increasing number of parties. The political situation that Murayama faced at the time is similar to the one faced by the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, as the LDP fails to hold a majority in both houses of the Diet.

Murayama’s political stance can offer some lessons for both the ruling and opposition parties today, because even though he was troubled over the different positions between his and other parties, he was able to find a compromise.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 18, 2025)