Kiichi Miyazawa

Born Oct. 8, 1919 in Tokyo. Miyazawa is one of the few living politicians to have seen Japan emerge from the ruins after World War II to reach economic superpower status. He joined the Finance Ministry in 1942. After Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers in 1945, Miyazawa became a secretary to then Finance Minister Hayato Ikeda and attended the 1951 Japan-U.S. peace conference in San Francisco to help the minister as an interpreter. Miyazawa served as prime minister between Nov. 5, 1991 and Aug. 9, 1993 after holding various portfolios such as foreign minister, finance minister and chief cabinet secretary.