Sunao Sonoda

Sunao Sonoda
園田 直
Sonoda at Schiphol in July 1979
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
18 May 1981 – 30 November 1981
Prime MinisterZenkō Suzuki
Preceded byMasayoshi Ito
Succeeded byYoshio Sakurauchi
Minister of Health and Welfare
In office
19 September 1980 – 18 May 1981
Prime MinisterZenkō Suzuki
Preceded byKunikichi Saitō
Succeeded byTatsuo Murayama
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
28 November 1977 – 9 November 1979
Prime Minister
Preceded byIichirō Hatoyama
Succeeded bySaburo Okita
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
24 December 1976 – 28 November 1977
Prime MinisterTakeo Fukuda
Preceded byIchitaro Ide
Succeeded byShintaro Abe
Minister of Health and Welfare
In office
25 November 1967 – 30 November 1968
Prime MinisterEisaku Satō
Preceded byHideo Bō
Succeeded byNoboru Saitō
Personal details
Born11 December 1913
Amakusa, Kumamoto, Empire of Japan
Died2 April 1984(1984-04-02) (aged 70)
Tokyo, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
SpouseTenkoko Sonoda
ChildrenHiroyuki Sonoda
Military career
Allegiance Japan
Service / branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service1935–1945
RankCaptain
Battles / warsSecond Sino-Japanese War
Second World War

Sunao Sonoda (園田 直, Sonoda Sunao, 11 December 1913 – 2 April 1984) was Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who served as minister for foreign affairs and minister of health and welfare. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan when he was in office.[1] He was one of the significant figures in normalizing the relations between Japan and China.[2]

  1. ^ "Former Japanese minister Sonoda". Montreal Gazette. 3 April 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  2. ^ Louis Frédéric, ed. (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press. p. 902. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.