Shigeru Yoshida - As Prime Minister

Japanese statesman and prime minister (1946–7, 1948–54), born in Tokyo, Japan. He studied at Tokyo Imperial University, entered diplomacy in 1906, and after service in several capitals was vice-minister for foreign affairs. He was ambassador to Italy (1930–2) and ambassador in London (1936–8). During World War 2 he tried to persuade the Japanese to surrender early in 1945. He became foreign minister (Oct 1945), and formed the government which inaugurated the new constitution in 1946. He was re-elected in 1950 and resigned in 1954, retiring from politics soon after.

Shigeru Yoshida (吉田 茂, Yoshida Shigeru), September 22, 1878–October 20, 1967, was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954. His policies, emphasizing Japan's economic recovery and a reliance on US military protection at the expense of independence in foreign affairs, became known as the "Yoshida Doctrine" and shaped Japanese foreign policy during the Cold War era and beyond. He entered Japan's diplomatic corps in 1906 just after Japan's victory against Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.

As Prime Minister

Yoshida became the 45th prime minister on May 22, 1946.

Under Yoshida's rule, Japan began to rebuild its lost industrial infrastructure and placed a premium on unrestrained economic growth. Many of these concepts still impact Japan's political and economic policies, however since the 1970's environmental movement, the bursting of Japan's economic bubble, and the end of the Cold War, Japan has been struggling to redefine its national goals.