Tsutomu Hata

Born on Aug. 24, 1935 in Tokyo. Hata was elected to the House of Representatives from Nagano Prefecture in 1969 at the age of 34 after working as a ''salaryman'' for 10 years. Hata held key cabinet portfolios as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He and his close ally Ichiro Ozawa formed Shinseito (Japan Renewal Party) with a group of LDP dissidents in 1993. Hata served as prime minister between April 28 and June 30, 1994. Photo was taken Jan. 18, 1999.