<figure id="attachment_440289" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440289" style="width: 2535px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ba02fc32"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/77a89a13cce211eefc8ee4c782231136.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440289" class="wp-caption-text">On August 22, 1995, about a month before his death, when Mr. Watanabe was asked by Mr. Hashimoto to cooperate in the presidential election, he said, &#8220;I will continue to make small talk.&#8221; &#8230;&#8230; (from October 6, &#8217;95 issue)</figcaption></figure>
<p> What did &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; report 10, 20, or 30 years ago? In &#8220;Playback Friday,&#8221; we revisit the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we will introduce <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Michio Watanabe, former deputy prime minister who died a horrible death, saying he was sorry&#8230;&#8221;</span> from the October 6, 1995 issue, which was published 30 years ago. On September 15, 1995, the former vice prime minister, Michio Watanabe, died in a fit of rage.</p>
<p> On September 15, 1995, former Deputy Prime Minister Michio Watanabe (72 years old), nicknamed &#8220;Michi&#8221; for his folksy personality, died of heart failure at Tokyo Women&#8217;s Medical University Hospital. The following is an article in memory of Mr. Watanabe, who died without fulfilling his dream of becoming prime minister.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> He died suddenly in the middle of the night from a sudden change of heart&#8230;</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who delivered the eulogy at the farewell ceremony, called out to the deceased: &#8220;Mr. Watanabe, you must be very sorry for your loss.</span></p>
<p> At the time, this magazine had learned that Mr. Watanabe had been hospitalized at Tokyo Women&#8217;s Medical University, but the hospital room was quiet until shortly before his death. However, as Sumiko, his wife, told us later in the interview, &#8220;He suddenly changed around 0:30 a.m.,&#8221; his final moments came suddenly. The political world was shocked by the news of his death, as he was a major figure who had served as a minister, held important positions in the party, and led a faction.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The news of Watanabe&#8217;s death was greeted with a flurry of condolences in bad weather at his hometown of Nishinasuno, Tochigi Prefecture, by members of the former Watanabe faction, as well as Yohei Kono, Noboru Takeshita, Ryutaro Hashimoto, Junichiro Koizumi, and Toshiki Kaifu, among others. Ichiro Ozawa, who said that he had rushed to the site anyway, unshaven, choked up and said, &#8220;I wish I could have given him more guidance,&#8221; and then shed a few tears.</span></p>
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<p> He inherited the faction from former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1990 and wielded influence as a powerful figure in the LDP. He is also known for his straightforward gibberish and outbursts that often caused &#8220;tongue-twisters,&#8221; such as &#8220;Fish caught by the opposition party&#8217;s high welfare and low burden policies do not have a high intelligence quotient,&#8221; and &#8220;In the United States, where credit cards are popular, there are many blacks, etc., and bankruptcy is a car with a kero-kero-kero, akela-ka kuru. He is also known to have caused &#8220;tongue-twisters. However, despite his great influence in the political world and his high name recognition among the people, he was never elected to the prime minister&#8217;s chair.</p>
<p> In 1991, he ran for president for the first time. He received more votes than expected, but was defeated by Kiichi Miyazawa. In the Miyazawa cabinet, Watanabe became deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, but a physical breakdown forced his resignation in April 1993. Nevertheless, Watanabe&#8217;s desire to become prime minister was not broken.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" He even considered leaving the party and running for the leadership nomination."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Shortly before his death, he expressed his regret.</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Mr. Watanabe continued to maintain his indomitable fighting spirit, saying, &#8220;He said, &#8216;I have already served as minister enough, so all I have left is to be prime minister. In July 1993, following the LDP&#8217;s disastrous defeat in the general election, Mr. Watanabe ran for the presidency. However, he was narrowly defeated again in a race with Mr. Kono.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In 1994, he left the LDP in exchange for a seat as successor to outgoing Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, and he planned to run for the party&#8217;s nomination for leader, but abandoned his bid at the last minute. After that, he continued to say in interviews with this magazine, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know when, but I will get another chance. I will not betray you all next time.</span></p>
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<p> Masaya Ito, a political commentator, had the following to say about Mr. Watanabe.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He was an extremely capable politician who was a cut above the rest in terms of finances and the economy. However, the prime minister and president do not need a home run, but steadfastness and safety. He was not aware of this point.</span></p>
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<p> Mr. Watanabe&#8217;s death occurred in the midst of the LDP presidential election following Mr. Kono&#8217;s decision not to run, but perhaps sensing the limits of his physical strength, he announced his support for Ryutaro Hashimoto instead of running as a candidate himself. He was the deciding factor in the outcome of the presidential election. However, he seemed sad, saying, &#8220;I have done my duty. He must have regretted not becoming prime minister until the end of his life.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Shortly before his death, Watanabe told his eldest son, Kimi (43), &#8220;I&#8217;m so sorry &#8230;&#8230;. If I were healthy, I would have been able to be in the public eye, too. He probably felt that if he had been in good health, he would have been in the limelight to contest the presidential election. It was a &#8220;terrible death&#8221; that showed his persistence for the &#8220;prime minister&#8217;s seat&#8221; until the very end.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Mr. Watanabe is still adored by many politicians."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Prime Minister Ishiba&#8217;s &#8220;political mentor</span></h3>
<p> Mr. Watanabe&#8217;s uninhibited manner and his many controversies have given him an image of a man with a free and unrestrained mind, but in reality he was a policy-oriented politician who could not stop talking about policy once he started. He was not the type of fixer who manipulated the political situation with his scheming and scheming, and it seems that there were quite a few politicians who admired him.</p>
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<p> Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, who was entrusted by his father Koichi Hamada to serve as Watanabe&#8217;s secretary for three years and also asked him to be his matchmaker, explained in an interview in the May 2012 issue of Chuo Koron why he spent most of his time as a Diet member without a faction as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Perhaps the appeal of Mr. Michio Watanabe was too great. I was his secretary for three years and asked him to be my matchmaker.&#8221; When I was first elected in 1993, naturally I had no choice but to join the Watanabe faction.&#8221; After Sensei passed away in 1995, then what next? It&#8217;s not easy to find someone with that much human charm and aura.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> For a time, Mr. Watanabe defied the faction&#8217;s decision and left the Nakasone faction. Around that time in 1980, he established the Onchikai, a cross-factional policy study group and policy group, to bring in younger members of the party, and at the same time to discover and train new members nationwide. Among them was the young Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Prime Minister Ishiba, who looks up to Mr. Watanabe as his political mentor, drew on Mr. Watanabe&#8217;s words in his policy speech: &#8220;A politician&#8217;s job is to speak the truth with courage and sincerity,&#8221; which became a hot topic.</p>
<p> Not only Mr. Watanabe, but there are probably many other politicians who have aspired to the prime minister&#8217;s position but have failed to attain it. The current news about the LDP presidential election is also a matter of concern. However, even if he wins the presidential election, there is no guarantee that he will become prime minister this time.</p>
<figure id="attachment_440290" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440290" style="width: 2468px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3d2838ae"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/2dad06b62c3614239ca2fceb79ed6bda.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440290" class="wp-caption-text"> On September 17, 1995, the family of the deceased after a secret funeral. Leading the group is Yoshimi, the eldest son, followed by Sumiko, his wife, Michiaki, the second son, and Miyuki, the eldest daughter (from the October 6, 1995 issue).</figcaption></figure>


 Takashi Hotta

 A look back at what this magazine reported 10, 20, and 30 years ago [Playback]. On September 15, 1995, Michio Watanabe, a politician widely known for his strong personality, passed away. What was the "persistence" that he kept burning until his death?

Playback &#8217;95] &#8220;I&#8217;m so disappointed&#8230;&#8221; &#8220;Michi&#8221; Michio Watanabe showed his &#8220;persistence to become prime minister&#8221; at the moment of his death.

Playback ’95] “I’m so disappointed…” “Michi” Michio Watanabe showed his “persistence to become prime minister” at the moment of his death.

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