Nobuo Ishihara, who served as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for more than seven years in seven cabinets, from the Takeshita Cabinet to the Murayama Cabinet, has passed away.
he was 96 years old.
Originally from Gunma Prefecture, Mr. Ishihara served as the administrative vice-minister of the former Ministry of Home Affairs, and with the inauguration of the Takeshita Cabinet in 1987, he was appointed deputy chief cabinet secretary, the top government official.
He went on to serve as deputy secretary-general for more than seven years in the seven cabinets of Uno, Kaifu, Miyazawa, Hosokawa, Haneda and Murayama.
As deputy secretary, he held the most cabinets in history.
During his tenure as Deputy Director General, in addition to supporting the change of era and funeral ceremonies following the death of Emperor Showa, he also contributed to the restoration and reconstruction of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
Mr. Ishihara continued his dissemination of information on issues such as local autonomy even after he resigned as deputy chief.
When former Prime Minister Kaifu passed away last year, he said in an NHK interview, ``When there was a debate about whether the Self-Defense Forces should join the multinational forces in the Gulf War, Mr. Kaifu said from the beginning that he would not allow the Self-Defense Forces to be used in places where armed conflict would occur. We should not be dispatched.”