Ken Harada (politician)

Ken Harada (原田 憲, Harada Ken, February 12, 1919 – January 29, 1997) was a member of the Diet of Japan from the Liberal Democratic Party until resigning his office on January 24, 1989 following alleged involvement in the Recruit scandal, where Harada admitted Recruit had given him donations, in the form of seasonal summer gifts, for ten years. While the donations were not illegal, they raised questions of political ethics which eventually led Harada to resign. As a member of the Diet, Harada served as Minister of Economic Planning, and earned the close trust of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita. He was the third minister to resign over the scandal. Harada had been appointed to direct the Ministry of Economic Planning only one month before his resignation. After party officials had already placed him as the chair of a committee in charge of investigating the Recruit stock scandal, where he had concluded that nothing illegal had taken place. In 1992, Harada backed Keizō Obuchi as new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. Kōichirō Aino replaced Harada as Minister of Economic Planning.