Hosokawa, Morihiro

Hosokawa, Morihiro (mō'rēhē`rō hō'sōkä`wä), 1938–, Japanese politician, a member of a noble family and grandson of Fumimaro Konoye. A journalist and member of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP), he entered politics in 1971 when he was elected to the upper house of the Japanese parliament. After two terms in parliament, he served (1983–91) as governor of Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu. Dismayed by federal corruption, he bolted from the LDP in 1992 and founded the reformist Japan New party. When the splintered opposition groups triumphed in the 1993 election, ending 38 years of LDP rule, Hosokawa helped fashion an eight-party coalition and was elected prime minister. Although he won passage of corruption-reducing electoral reforms in 1994, Hosokawa himself was undermined by anticorruption sentiments, resigning later that year over questions regarding his management of personal funds during the 1980s.