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LDP to win lower house majority

TOKYO, Japan - Takeo Hiranuma, head of the minor opposition Party for Future Generations, receives the results of the lower house election at a Tokyo hotel on the night of Dec. 14, 2014. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will likely secure a majority in the election, according to Kyodo News exit polls and projections.

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1 week before Japan general election

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties campaign across Japan on Dec. 7, 2014, a week before the Dec. 14 lower house election. They are (from R to L, top row to bottom row) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party; Banri Kaieda of the Democratic Party of Japan; Kenji Eda, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party; Natsuo Yamaguchi of the Komeito party; Takeo Hiranuma of the Party for Future Generations; Kazuo Shii of the Japanese Communist Party; Ichiro Ozawa of the People's Life Party; Tadatomo Yoshida of the Social Democratic Party; and Hiroyuki Arai of the New Renaissance Party.

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Campaigning begins for Japan general election

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties stump across Japan on Dec. 2, 2014, the first day of official campaigning for a lower house election. They are (from R to L, top row to bottom row) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party, Banri Kaieda of the Democratic Party of Japan, Kenji Eda, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party, Natsuo Yamaguchi of the Komeito party, Takeo Hiranuma of the Party for Future Generations, Kazuo Shii of the Japanese Communist Party, Ichiro Ozawa of the People's Life Party, Tadatomo Yoshida of the Social Democratic Party and Hiroyuki Arai of the New Renaissance Party.

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Campaigning begins for Japan general election

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties stump across Japan on Dec. 2, 2014, the first day of official campaigning for a lower house election. They are (from R to L, top row to bottom row) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party, Banri Kaieda of the Democratic Party of Japan, Kenji Eda, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party, Natsuo Yamaguchi of the Komeito party, Takeo Hiranuma of the Party for Future Generations, Kazuo Shii of the Japanese Communist Party, Ichiro Ozawa of the People's Life Party, Tadatomo Yoshida of the Social Democratic Party and Hiroyuki Arai of the New Renaissance Party.

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Campaigning starts for general election

TSUYAMA, Japan - Takeo Hiranuma, chairman of the small opposition Party for Future Generation, makes a speech in the western Japan city of Tsuyama on Dec. 2, 2014, the first day of the official campaigning for the Dec. 14 lower house election.

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Leaders of Japan's political parties debate on Internet

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties in Japan participate in a debate in Tokyo broadcast on a video-sharing website on Nov. 29, 2014, ahead of the start of official campaigning for a lower house election. They are (from L to R) Tadatomo Yoshida of the Social Democratic Party, Kazuo Shii of the Japanese Communist Party, Natsuo Yamaguchi of the Komeito party, Banri Kaieda of the Democratic Party of Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kenji Eda, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party, Takeo Hiranuma of the Party for Future Generations, and Ichiro Ozawa of the People's Life Party.

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Japanese lawmakers visit Yasukuni

TOKYO, Japan - (From L) Takeo Hiranuma, chairman of the small opposition Party for Future Generation as well as Liberal Democratic Party's Hidehisa Otsuji and Ichiro Aisawa lead a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Oct. 17, 2014, to pay homage during its autumn festival.

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Party for Future Generations established

TOKYO, Japan - Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (R) and former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma show Aug. 1, 2014, a nameboard of the Party for Future Generations, a new political party, in Tokyo. Hiranuma is to head, and Ishihara is to serve as the top adviser of the party.

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Hashimoto's controversial remarks on 'comfort women'

TOKYO, Japan - Shintaro Ishihara (R) and Takeo Hiranuma, lawmakers from the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attend a plenary session of the House of Representatives in the Diet in Tokyo on May 14, 2013. Ishihara, the former Tokyo governor who co-heads the party with Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, defended the same day Hashimoto's controversial remarks on wartime sexual servitude by women, saying that "Any military is commonly associated with prostitution and that is like a principle of history."

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Ishihara launches new party

TOKYO, Japan - Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (R) holds a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 13, 2012, at which he launched a new party, called the Sunrise Party. The party is headed jointly by Ishihara and former industry minister Takeo Hiranuma (L).

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Ishihara launches new party

TOKYO, Japan - Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (R) holds a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 13, 2012, at which he launched a new party, called the Sunrise Party. The party is headed jointly by Ishihara and former industry minister Takeo Hiranuma (L).

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Ishihara launches new party

TOKYO, Japan - Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (R) holds a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 13, 2012, at which he launched a new party, called the Sunrise Party. The party is headed jointly by Ishihara and former industry minister Takeo Hiranuma (L).

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Ishihara to become head of new conservative party

TOKYO, Japan - Takeo Hiranuma (L), leader of the Sunrise Party of Japan, and outgoing Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, raise their fists during a meeting of the party in Tokyo on Oct. 30, 2012. Ishihara was set to form a new party in early November that will incorporate the members of the small conservative party at its core.

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Tokyo Gov. Ishihara

TOKYO, Japan - Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (R) speaks at a meeting of the Sunrise Party of Japan in Tokyo on Jan. 3, 2012. To the left is Sunrise Party of Japan leader Takeo Hiranuma. The two men plus People's New Party leader Shizuka Kamei are said to be planning to launch a new party.

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Tokyo Gov. Ishihara

TOKYO, Japan - Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (R) speaks at a meeting of the Sunrise Party of Japan in Tokyo on Jan. 3, 2012. To the left is Sunrise Party of Japan leader Takeo Hiranuma. The two men plus People's New Party leader Shizuka Kamei are said to be planning to launch a new party.

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Tokyo Gov. Ishihara

TOKYO, Japan - Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is pictured at a press conference at the Tokyo government office on Jan. 27, 2012. Political sources said the same day that People's New Party leader Shizuka Kamei, Sunrise Party of Japan leader Takeo Hiranuma and Ishihara have agreed to launch a new political party in March.

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Tokyo Gov. Ishihara

TOKYO, Japan - Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is pictured at a press conference at the Tokyo government office on Jan. 27, 2012. Political sources said the same day that People's New Party leader Shizuka Kamei, Sunrise Party of Japan leader Takeo Hiranuma and Ishihara have agreed to launch a new political party in March.

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Sunrise Party snubs Kan's offer to join ruling coalition

TOKYO, Japan - Sunrise Party of Japan leader Takeo Hiranuma (R) and Secretary General Hiroyuki Sonoda take part in a press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 27, 2010. The lawmakers said the party decided to decline an offer by Prime Minister Naoto Kan to be part of the ruling coalition led by the Democratic Party of Japan.

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Campaigning gets under way for upper house election

TOKYO, Japan - Sunrise Party of Japan leader Takeo Hiranuma delivers a stump speech in front of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on June 24, 2010, as official campaigning began for the July 11 House of Councillors election. Hiranuma proposed revising the Constitution from a conservative standpoint in Tokyo.

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Political leaders hold pre-election debate

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of political parties -- (from L to R) New Renaissance Party's Yoichi Masuzoe, People's New Party's Shizuka Kamei, Japanese Communist Party's Kazuo Shii, Liberal Democratic Party's Sadakazu Tanigaki, Prime Minister Naoto Kan (who also serves as Democratic Party of Japan leader), New Komeito party's Natsuo Yamaguchi, Social Democratic Party's Mizuho Fukushima, Your Party's Yoshimi Watanabe and Sunrise Party of Japan's Takeo Hiranuma -- take part in a nationally televised debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on June 22, 2010, ahead of the June 24 start of official campaigning for the House of Councillors election.

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Political leaders hold pre-election debate

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of political parties -- (from L to R) New Renaissance Party's Yoichi Masuzoe, People's New Party's Shizuka Kamei, Japanese Communist Party's Kazuo Shii, Liberal Democratic Party's Sadakazu Tanigaki, Prime Minister Naoto Kan (who also serves as Democratic Party of Japan leader), New Komeito party's Natsuo Yamaguchi, Social Democratic Party's Mizuho Fukushima, Your Party's Yoshimi Watanabe and Sunrise Party of Japan's Takeo Hiranuma -- take part in a nationally televised debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on June 22, 2010, ahead of the June 24 start of official campaigning for the House of Councillors election.

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Party leaders hold public debate before upper house election

TOKYO, Japan - Leaders of political parties -- (from L to R) New Renaissance Party's Yoichi Masuzoe, People's New Party's Shizuka Kamei, Japanese Communist Party's Kazuo Shii, Liberal Democratic Party's Sadakazu Tanigaki, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who also serves as Democratic Party of Japan's leader, New Komeito party's Natsuo Yamaguchi, Social Democratic Party's Mizuho Fukushima, Your Party's Yoshimi Watanabe and Sunrise Party of Japan's Takeo Hiranuma -- line up at Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on June 22, 2010, before their public debate ahead of the June 24 start of official campaign for the House of Councillors election.

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Baseball star Nakahata to run in upper house election

TOKYO, Japan - Former Yomiuri Giants infielder Kiyoshi Nakahata officially announces at a hotel in Tokyo on May 11, 2010, that he will run in the upper house election this summer in the proportional representation section on the ticket of the Sunrise Party of Japan led by former ministers Kaoru Yosano and Takeo Hiranuma.

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Taiwan opens cultural center in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Takeo Hiranuma (L), chairman of a Japan-Taiwan lawmakers' conference and leader of the new Sunrise Party of Japan, and singer and actress Judy Ongg (R) who hails from Taiwan, attend an opening ceremony for the Taipei Cultural Center at Taiwan's representative office in Tokyo on April 21, 2010 to promote cultural exchanges between the island and Japan.

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Hiranuma, Yosano launch new party to oppose DPJ

TOKYO, Japan - Five founding members of the Sunrise Party of Japan and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (far R) pose for photographers during a news conference in Tokyo to launch the new party on April 10, 2010. (From L) Former Cabinet Office Senior Vice Minister Yoshio Nakagawa, former transport minister Takao Fujii, former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma, former Acting Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party Hiroyuki Sonoda and Ishihara.

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Hiranuma, Yosano launch new party to oppose DPJ

TOKYO, Japan - Former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano (L) and former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma pose for photographers during a news conference to launch a new party at a Tokyo hotel on April 10, 2010. Yosano, Hiranuma and three other veteran lawmakers launched the Sunrise Party of Japan amid questions about its ability to be a potent alternative to existing parties.

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Hiranuma, Yosano launch new party to oppose DPJ

TOKYO, Japan - Five founding members of the Sunrise Party of Japan and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara (far R) pose for photographers during a news conference in Tokyo to launch the new party on April 10, 2010. (From L) Former Cabinet Office Senior Vice Minister Yoshio Nakagawa, former transport minister Takao Fujii, former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma, former Acting Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party Hiroyuki Sonoda and Ishihara.

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Hiranuma, Yosano launch new party to oppose DPJ

TOKYO, Japan - Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma speaks during a news conference to launch a new party at a Tokyo hotel on April 10, 2010. Hiranuma, who became the head of the Sunrise Party of Japan, launched the party with Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano and three other veteran lawmakers amid questions about its ability to be a potent alternative to existing parties.

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Hiranuma's party to pursue 'medium welfare, medium cost-bearing'

TOKYO, Japan - Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma is surrounded by reporters in Tokyo on April 8, 2010, after a meeting with the prospective founding members of the new party called ''Tachiagare Nippon'' (Stand Up, Japan). Former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, former Liberal Democratic Party Acting Secretary General Hiroyuki Sonoda, former Cabinet Office senior vice minister Yoshio Nakagawa and former transport minister Takao Fujii took part in the meeting to discuss the policies of the party, which will be headed by Hiranuma.

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Yosano says new party to map schedule for fiscal rehabilitation

TOKYO, Japan - Former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano speaks in an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on April 6, 2010. Yosano, who has tendered a letter of resignation to the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said the new party he will form with former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma and other like-minded lawmakers this week will map out a concrete schedule for Japan to achieve economic growth and fiscal rehabilitation.

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Yosano, Hiranuma confirm plans to launch new party this week

TOKYO, Japan - Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma, an independent who left the LDP in 2005, answers questions from reporters after meeting with former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano in Tokyo on April 5, 2010. Hiranuma and Yosano, who is set to leave the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party after severely criticizing the party leadership, confirmed in the meeting their plans to launch a new party by the end of this week.

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Abductees' families call for more sanctions on N. Korea

TOKYO, Japan - Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura (R) receives a written request from Takeo Hiranuma, the head of a lawmakers' group for Japanese abducted by North Korea in the past, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Oct. 15, urging that the government step up economic sanctions on North Korea. Third from right is Shigeo Iizuka, who heads a group of Japanese abductees' families.

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Kin deliver letter to U.S. president on N. Korean abductions

WASHINGTON, United States - Former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma, who accompanied a group of family members of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, speaks with reporters after the group delivered a personal letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, asking him to give careful thought to possibly removing North Korea from the U.S. list of terrorist-sponsoring nations.

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Ex-trade minister Hiranuma hospitalized for stroke

OKAYAMA, Japan - Takeo Hiranuma (file photo), former economy, trade and industry minister, has been hospitalized in Tokyo since December after suffering a stroke, his supporters said on Jan. 16. Hiranuma, 67, who fell ill while dining with other lawmakers in Tokyo on Dec. 6, was diagnosed with a mild stroke, according to the supporters, who held a press conference in Okayama Prefecture, his constituency.

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'Postal rebels' submit petition for readmission to LDP

TOKYO, Japan - Takeo Hiranuma, who was economy, trade and industry minister in the last administration, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Nov. 27 after a meeting to discuss the return to the Liberal Democratic Party of independent lawmakers who were ousted from it last year for opposing the LDP's postal privatization policy. (Pool photo)

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Nurse group exec Abe to run for LDP in Okayama vs. Hiranuma

TOKYO, Japan - Toshiko Abe (R), vice president of the Japanese Nursing Association, announces at a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 20 aside LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe that she will run for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the upcoming Sept. 11 general election in an Okayama constituency where former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma is expected to run.

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Japan disappointed at WTO collapse, but says progress made

CANCUN, Mexico - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi (L), trade minister Takeo Hiranuma (C) and farm minister Yoshiyuki Kamei speak to reporters in Cancun, Mexico, on Sept. 14 after the five-day ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization ended in failure.

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Hiranuma attends town meeting in Fukui

FUKUI, Japan - Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma (L) speaks during a government-sponsored town meeting in Fukui on Aug. 31.

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4 ministers pay visit to controversial Yasukuni Shrine

TOKYO, Japan - Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (C) is seen among people waiting their turn to pay homage at Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Japanese war criminals along with the nation's war dead, on Aug. 15. Yoshitada Konoike, minister in charge of disaster prevention, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei and National Public Safety Commission Chairman Sadakazu Tanigaki joined Hiranuma in visiting the shrine.

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TEPCO reactivates 4th reactor following scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reactivated a reactor in Niigata Prefecture on July 22, making it the fourth reactor restarted after shutdowns in the aftermath of a damage cover-up scandal in 2002. Niigata Gov. Ikuo Hirayama (C) and Kashiwazaki Mayor Masazumi Saikawa (R) gave Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (L) their consent for restarting the No. 4 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

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No. 4 reactor at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant safe: Hiranuma

NIIGATA, Japan - Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (R) is in talks with Niigata Gov. Ikuo Hirayama at the governor's office July 9. Hiranuma told Hirayama the No. 4 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is safe, a move expected to pave the way for the suspended reactor to be reactivated probably in mid-July.

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No. 4 reactor in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant safe: Hiranuma

NIIGATA, Japan - Industry minister Takeo Hiranuma (standing) declares at the Niigata prefectural assembly on July 9 that the No. 4 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is safe. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) shut down all of its 17 reactors after revelations last August that the utility had falsified safety reports.

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'Beast' Bob Sapp urges Japanese to be forward-looking

TOKYO, Japan - Popular American kickboxer Bob Sapp (R) meets Japanese trade minister Takeo Hiranuma, telling him that the Japanese should have a more future-oriented attitude. Sapp visited Hiranuma as he has agreed to participate in a campaign promoting a ministry project to foster entrepreneurship, particularly among young people.

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Hiranuma visits Niigata to apologize for TEPCO scandal

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan - Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (R) meets with Niigata Governor Ikuo Hiyarayam (L) at the Kashiwazaki municipal office on June 4 to apologize for his ministry's failure to prevent Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) from covering up defects at its nuclear reactors in Niigata Prefecture.

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Ministers meet ahead of informal WTO meeting

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tadamori Oshima, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma hold talks at the Diet building on Feb. 14 ahead of the opening the same day of a three-day informal ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Tokyo.

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Japan under fire at WTO over farm tariff cuts

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Farm minister Tadamori Oshima, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and industry minister Takeo Hiranuma are in talks in the Diet building Nov. 19 after a Japanese proposal to apply flexibility in tariff cuts for farm imports drew fire from major agricultural exporters at farm trade talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.

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Int'l Energy Forum ends

OSAKA, Japan - Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (C) and other delegates attend a news conference after the end of the International Energy Forum in Osaka on Sept. 23.

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13 Asian countries to coordinate response to oil emergency

OSAKA, Japan - Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (C) addresses a meeting of energy ministers from Japan, South Korea, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Osaka on Sept. 22.

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(1)Int'l Energy Forum opens in Osaka

OSAKA, Japan - Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma addresses the eighth International Energy Forum which opened Sept. 21 in Osaka.

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Hiranuma lectures at int'l symposium

OSAKA, Japan - Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma (on screen) gives a lecture at an international energy symposium in Osaka on Sept. 21.