Tanaka Kakuei (1918-1993) was the most controversial of the post-World War II prime ministers of Japan. As the leader of the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) he dominated Japanese politics for many years.

Although Tanaka Kakuei served as prime minister for only two years, he was instrumental in bringing three successor prime ministers to office and ensuring that his predecessor stayed in office longer than any other prime minister. The only prime minister since World War I not to have attended a university, he served with distinction as the minister in three of the all-important economic ministries and may come to be seen as the author of the body of communication law which permitted Japan to slide so readily into the information age. He is pictured in the press as the ultimate corrupter, using money to manipulate rather than ideals to inspire Japanese politics...