Kazuo Hatoyama

Kazuo Hatoyama (鳩山 和夫, Hatoyama Kazuo; 6 May 1856 – 3 October 1911) was a Japanese lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1896 to 1897. He was the patriarch of the prominent Hatoyama family, father of Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, great-grandfather of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Early life and education Hatoyama was born to a samurai family of the Katsuyama clan in present-day Minato, Tokyo.

He graduated from Tokyo Kaisei School in 1875. He was selected for a government-sponsored study abroad program and attended Columbia University (B.L., 1877) and Yale University Law School (M.L., 1878; D.C.L., 1880).

He thereafter joined the Rikken Kaishintō political party founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu and became active in politics. In 1890, at Okuma's urging, he was appointed president of the Tokyo Semmon Gakko, which later became Waseda University. He headed this institution until 1907, although his title was largely honorary in nature. His grandson was former Foreign Minister Iichirō Hatoyama. His younger great-grandson Kunio Hatoyama served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications under Prime Minister Taro Aso until June 12, 2009. His older great-grandson Yukio Hatoyama is the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and represents the 9th district of Hokkaidō in the House of Representatives. Yukio became Prime Minister on September 16, 2009, following a win by the opposition coalition in the 2009 elections. His son-in-law was Suzuki Kisaburō, a judge, prosecutor, procurator and Minister of Justice and Home Minister.

Family tree

Residence Hatoyama and his family resided in the Otowa neighborhood of Bunkyo, Tokyo in 1891. Following the Great Kanto Earthquake, his son Ichiro commissioned a new Western-style mansion on the site which is now known as Hatoyama Hall (鳩山会館 Hatoyama Kaikan).