The Political Life of Japanese PM Hatoyama

The Rise
Elected in 1986 to the House of Representatives as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the country's ruling conservatives, Hatoyama soon broke off to help form new political parties: first, in '93, the reformist (and short-lived) New Party Sakigake, and three years later the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), with the help of a generous donation from his mother. He ultimately rose in the DPJ's ranks from secretary general to party leader, succeeding Ichiro Ozawa, who stepped down in May 2009 amid a funding scandal involving a senior aide.

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