Issue:
September 2025
Otto von Habsburg’s support for Kakuei Tanaka would have a profound effect on Japan and the rest of the world
A foreign force secretly maneuvered to elevate the citizen of another country to the pinnacle of power. That individual became prime minister and enjoyed immense popularity among the public. He then became a powerful player, leading the largest faction of the ruling party for many years, changing the history of his country and influencing world events. This all happened here in Japan.
When I visited the Otto von Habsburg Foundation in Budapest, Hungary, last spring, I found an old letter. The foundation houses a vast collection of documents and letters left behind by Archduke Otto von Habsburg, who died in 2011. Among them was a typed letter addressed to Otto dated June 15, 1972. It was signed by Kakuei Tanaka, who at that time held the post of Japan's minister of international trade and industry.
The letter included this passage: “I am indebted to you for your efforts to realize my meeting with Mr. Kissinger on 12th of June. The meeting lasted over two hours and proved to be a very valuable exchange of views. I, therefore, avail myself of this opportunity to express my thanks to you and hope that we shall have a chance to meet again.”
The following month, on July 5, Tanaka was elected as the new president at the Liberal Democratic Party's extraordinary party convention. The following day he was elected prime minister in the Diet. Eisaku Sato, who had served as prime minister for eight years, stepped down, and a new administration was born. The Mister Kissinger mentioned in Tanaka's letter was Henry Kissinger, then National Security Advisor to U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Otto and Kissinger played a major role in this change of government. Some might go so far as to call it a foreign attempt to influence another country's politics. The story, however, is not that simple. To understand it, we must first look into Tanaka's background.
Tanaka, who ran a construction company, was elected to the Diet in his 20s, just after World War II. He distinguished himself with his intense energy, decision-making skills, and ability to manipulate bureaucrats, serving in important posts such as minister of finance and of international trade and industry. Tanaka aspired to become prime minister, but he faced a major handicap: his poor background.
In postwar Japan, elite politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen forged powerful connections through old-boy networks of academic cliques such as those made up of graduates of Tokyo Imperial University. They also formed powerful family connections through marriage. This was the so-called "mainstream conservative establishment," and successive prime ministers were selected from within it.
Tanaka, on the other hand, was born to the family of an impoverished farmer in snow-covered Niigata prefecture. He only completed elementary school and had no association with academic cliques, and no family connections. His political rival and minister of foreign affairs, Takeo Fukuda, on the other hand, had graduated from Tokyo Imperial University’s faculty of law and was an elite bureaucrat in the finance ministry. For this reason, Prime Minister Sato also hoped that Fukuda would become his successor.
Tanaka also seemed to be well aware of his position. Shigezo Hayasaka, who had been Tanaka's secretary for more than 20 years, said that the house in Niigata where Tanaka was born and raised was full of flies and fleas, and cattle were kept on the earthen floor. In his memoirs, Hayasaka had written: "So his greatest characteristic became his fighting spirit. He wouldn't lose, he wouldn't let himself be crushed. He wouldn't let higher-ups look down at him as if he were a pebble on the roadside. He had fighting spirit."
Tanaka thought about approaching a certain person in order to become prime minister. With his endorsement, he might be able to defeat the elite Fukuda. That person was Henry Kissinger.
At the time, Kissinger was traveling around the world, handling all aspects of American diplomacy. Later he also had the post of the secretary of state and in 1973 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to negotiate the withdrawal of American troops from the Vietnam War. His achievements were widely known in Japan. When his VIP plane arrived at Haneda airport, a red carpet was laid out for him on the tarmac. For Japanese politicians, meeting him was a status symbol, the best way to boost their prestige.
Kissinger's one-on-one meeting with Tanaka during his visit in June 1972 caused consternation in political circles. The Asahi Shimbun reported at the time: "Initially, Kissinger's schedule for mid-April only included a meeting with Foreign Minister Fukuda, but there was no one-on-one meeting with MITI Minister Tanaka. However, in this latest itinerary, both Fukuda and Tanaka were treated as equals. How did this come about?"
The person who arranged for the meeting between Tanaka and Kissinger was Archduke Otto, head of the House of Habsburg, one of Europe's most distinguished families.
Otto was born in 1912 as the last Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Following the collapse of the Habsburg dynasty and breakup of the empire at the end of World War I, he and his family went into exile. Before World War II, he was a strong opponent of the Nazi party and spoke out against Germany's annexation of Austria. Following the 1938 Anschluss, he was sentenced to death by the Nazis and fled Europe to the United States.
After the war, Otto promoted the liberation of Central and Eastern European nations from the influence of the Soviet Union and European integration. He maintained an international network of connections with royalty and politicians from various countries, and served as a member of the European Parliament from the late 1970s. One of his closest friends was Henry Kissinger.
On May 25, 1972, Otto sent Kissinger a letter, requesting that he meet Tanaka the next time he visited Japan. “After my long talk with him, I am certain that you could do wonders. Whether Tanaka succeeds in the succession of Sato this time or not, this man is going to be a very important force in Japanese affairs for a long time; he is, by character, probably the strongest and most ambitious of the lot.
“I think you would find him interesting, since he is more outspoken than the others and also represents the kind of mentality I feel will dominate in LDP circles once the older people retire.”
Kissinger accepted the request, dramatically strengthening Tanaka's presence in Japanese politics as a result - he went on to become president of the LDP and prime minister. The Japanese public enthusiastically supported Tanaka, calling him the "People's premier". The head of a prominent European family had extended a helping hand to the son of a poor farmer from snowy Niigata. When the Tanaka cabinet was formed, Otto sent a congratulatory telegram.
Here another question arises: why did Otto want Tanaka to become prime minister in the first place? Was it simply because he liked Tanaka's personality? In fact, a Japanese fixer was secretly working behind the scenes. He too was determined to see the birth of the Tanaka administration and influenced Otto. His name was Seigen Tanaka, known as the "Tiger of Tokyo".
Tanaka had once been a leader of the Japanese Communist Party in the early 20th century, and after World War II reversed his political stance to become a right-wing fixer. He also became involved in the oil business, acquiring oil concessions in the Middle East and Indonesia. Through these activities, he built up an extensive network of contacts overseas, one of whom was Otto. They cooperated in worldwide anti-communist activities since the 1960s. While not related to Kakuei Tanaka, he was a close friend, and it was Seigen who introduced him to Otto.
During Otto's visit to Japan in the spring of 1972, he had lunch with Seigen at his home in the Izu Highlands of Shizuoka Prefecture, where they agreed to consummate the Tanaka government. One of their reasons was apparently their desire for normalization of relations between Japan and China.
Following the end of World War II, Japan continued to maintain diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in Taiwan, rather than the People's Republic of China. Behind the scenes, however, Tanaka was preparing to recognize the PRC if he became prime minister. In September 1972, two months after taking office, Tanaka visited Beijing and negotiated with Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, and other Chinese leaders, paving the way for the normalization of diplomatic relations. This also meant severing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a development that would profoundly change Asian geopolitics amidst the Cold War.
Before his visit to China, Otto provided Tanaka with intelligence on the international situation via Seigen. Afterwards, in a letter to Otto, Seigen wrote: “The Prime Minister has found it really extremely helpful when he went to Peking at the end of September because, thanks to it, he could start the new relationship between the Communist China and Japan quite confidently and always showing a firm and resolute attitude. The Prime Minister told me that he would sacrifice any other commitment to meet Your Imperial Highness if Your Imperial Highness would come to Japan ….”
Otto had once remarked: "There is no doubt that Taiwan is being treated unfairly; however, we must also be aware that, because of the threat from Russia, we need Communist China today more than ever." In this regard, if Japan, a key member of the Western bloc, were to normalize diplomatic relations with China, it could put pressure on Moscow. The Tanaka administration's policy of normalizing relations with Beijing was consistent with the House of Habsburg's Soviet strategy.
Tanaka initially enjoyed widespread popularity, but his fortunes subsequently changed dramatically. Within two years, he had resigned as prime minister amid scrutiny over his questionable political fundraising activities, and in 1976 was arrested on allegation of accepting bribes in connection with the purchase of aircraft from U.S. manufacturer Lockheed. The so-called "Lockheed scandal" is still considered the biggest political scandal in postwar Japan.
Yet even after his ignominious departure from the top job, Tanaka remained a kingmaker who headed the ruling LDP's largest faction. This is evident in the fact that former Tanaka faction members Noboru Takeshita, Ryutaro Hashimoto and Keizo Obuchi went on to become prime ministers. Japan's current premier, Shigeru Ishiba, was also persuaded by Tanaka to quit his job as a banker and enter politics in the 1980s. Otto's prediction that Tanaka would remain an important force in Japan for a long time proved correct. Indeed, if Otto von Habsburg had not introduced Tanaka to Kissinger, the Ishiba administration might not even exist.
The letters slumbering in the Budapest archives bear witness to changes in the history of Japan, Asia and the world.
Eiichiro Tokumoto is a writer living in Tokyo.
