Hayato Ikeda

Hayato Ikeda (池田 勇人, Ikeda Hayato?, 3 December 1899 – 13 August 1965) born in Takehara, Hiroshima, was a Japanese politician and the 58th, 59th and 60th Prime Minister of Japan from 19 July 1960 to 9 November 1964.

As Prime Minister, he advocated the "income-doubling plan" and "politics of patience and reconciliation," respectively emphasizing economic development of Japan while minimizing societal conflict. He was noted for resolution of several major labor disputes, including a long-running strike at Miike Mine of Mitsui Mining Company (the resolution of this strike was in fact the first act of the Ikeda cabinet.)

Takafusa Nakamura, a leading economic historian, described Ikeda as "the single most important figure in Japan's rapid growth. He should long be remembered as the man who pulled together a national consensus for economic growth." His plan predicted a 7.2 percent growth rate (thereby doubling GNP over ten years), but by the second half of the 1960s, average growth had climbed to an astounding 11.6 percent. In addition, while Ikeda's "income-doubling plan" called for average personal incomes to double with ten years, this was actually achieved within seven years. In 1960, French president Charles De Gaulle famously referred to Ikeda as "that transistor salesman".

Along with Eisaku Satō, Ikeda was an understudy of Shigeru Yoshida earlier in life, and was called an "honor student" for his commitment to the ideas presented in the Yoshida Doctrine, although he was a strong personality himself. His 1952 resignation as Minister of International Trade and Industry was the result of a blunt remark in the Diet that "it makes no difference to me if five or ten small businessmen are forced to commit suicide," after Ikeda's policies favoring heavy industry were imposed.