Yukio Hatoyama

Yukio Hatoyama (鳩山 友紀夫, born 鳩山 由紀夫, Hatoyama Yukio; born 11 February 1947) is a retired Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and leader of the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the party.

Coming from a prominent Japanese political family, Hatoyama was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 to represent the Hokkaido 9th district. He became President of the DPJ, the main opposition party, in May 2009. He then led the party to a landslide victory in the 2009 general election, defeating the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power for over a decade, becoming prime minister that year.

During his premiership, Hatoyama attempted spending cuts on public works projects. He also moved to change Japan's foreign policy from a United States-centric one to a more Asia-focused one. Hatoyama's premiership saw improved relations between China and Japan, as well as with Japan's other neighbors. Though initially enjoying high approval ratings, his popularity soon dropped due to various reasons including a finance scandal. In 2010, he announced his resignation as prime minister, citing breaking a campaign promise to close an American military base on the island of Okinawa.

In 2012, just before the LDP won the general elections in a landslide, Hatoyama announced his retirement from politics and did not run for re-election. Since then, he has made large online presence such as on Twitter with his outspoken political views. Hatoyama took part in founding the minor Kyowa Party in 2020, but later left the party.