Hiroshi Hase

Hiroshi Hase
馳 浩
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Assumed office
7 October 2015
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Preceded by Hakubun Shimomura
Member of the House of Representatives from the First District of Ishikawa Prefecture
Assumed office
29 July 2007
Personal details
Born (1961-05-05) 5 May 1961
Oyabe, Toyama, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater Senshu University
Website http://hase-hiroshi.org/

Hiroshi Hase (馳 浩 Hase Hiroshi, born May 5, 1961) is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology under current Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.[1] Prior to his appointment in the Cabinet, he also served as a member of the House of Representatives of the National Diet, representing the 1st district of Ishikawa Prefecture.[2]

Hase is also a retired professional wrestler who worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). During his affiliation with AJPW, he also served as the chairman for the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF), which is the governing body for all championships in AJPW. Among other title wins, Hase held the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship once.

Early life

Hase graduated from Senshu University in March 1984. He then became a teacher of classic Japanese literature in a high school in Ishikawa Prefecture, before pursuing a professional wrestling career in 1985.[3]

1984 Summer Olympics

Hase also became an amateur wrestler, representing Japan at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He placed ninth in the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament.

Professional wrestling career

Hiroshi Hase
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Hiroshi Hase
Viet Cong Express #1
Billed height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Billed weight 105 kg (231 lb)
Billed from Ho Chi Minh City, North Vietnam (as Viet Cong Express #1)
Trained by Riki Choshu
Stu Hart
Mr. Hito
Debut February 28, 1986
Retired August 27, 2006

Early years (1986–1987)

Originally trained by Riki Choshu, Hiroshi Hase began his pro wrestling career in February 1986, at Carlos Colón's World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. Later that year, Hase went to Calgary, Canada, where he was trained by Stu Hart and Mr. Hito. He would wrestle in Stampede Wrestling, under a mask, in a tag team known as the Viet Cong Express with Fumihiro Niikura, with whom he held the Stampede International Tag Team Championship. By 1987, he started to wrestle under his name and unmasked in Stampede Wrestling. By the end of 1987, Hase would return to Japan.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1987–1996)

When he returned to Japan, Hase wrestled for NJPW's junior heavyweight division, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship twice. He defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi on December 27, 1987 and held it until May 27, 1988, losing the title to Owen Hart. His second reign began by defeating Shiro Koshinaka on March 16, 1989, and held it until May 25, 1989, losing it to Jushin Liger. In June 1989, Hase and Takayuki Iizuka went to the Soviet Union to be trained in sambo, where he learned one of his signature moves, the uranage. He would also become one of the only wrestlers, Japanese or American, to successfully graduate from the junior heavyweight to heavyweight class.

In the 1990s, Hase had many memorable encounters with famous Japanese talents first in New Japan, and later All Japan. In June 1990, Hase had a near-death experience in the ring, after being knocked out by a backdrop from Tatsutoshi Goto. Hase would form a successful tag team with Kensuke Sasaki in March 1990, winning the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice. On November 1, 1990, Hase and Sasaki defeated Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh to win the title and held on to the titles until December 26, 1990, losing them to Super Strong Machine and Hiro Saito. Their second reign came by regaining them from Machine and Saito on March 6, 1991, but lost the titles on March 21, 1991, to The Steiner Brothers. Hase was involved in a classic December 14, 1992 encounter with The Great Muta, in which the "Muta Scale" was created, due to the incredible amount of blood shed by Muta, which was payback for Muta bloodying Hase on September 14, 1990.

Hase and Mutoh were also regular tag team partners; they won the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice. Their first reign began on November 5, 1991, defeating Rick Steiner and Scott Norton in a decision match. They would hold on to the belts until March 1, 1992, losing them to Big Van Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow. Hase and Mutoh won the Super Grade Tag League in November 1993, defeating The Jurassic Powers in the final. On March 16, 1994, Hase defeated Rick Rude to win the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, and he re-lost the title to Rude on March 24, 1994. Hase and Mutoh won their second Super Grade Tag League in October 1994. On November 25, 1994, Hase and Mutoh defeated The Hellraisers to win their second IWGP Tag Team title. They would hold on to the titles until May 1995, as they vacated the titles after Mutoh won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

The following year he announced his retirement from New Japan, only to jump to the rival All Japan Pro Wrestling. His last New Japan bout as a New Japan wrestler was against Kensuke Sasaki on January 4, 1996. He wrestled one more match for NJPW on July 26, 1996, teaming with Sasaki, losing to Riki Choshu and Yuji Nagata.

All Japan Pro-Wrestling (1997–2006)

After a brief hiatus, he made his return to pro wrestling in All Japan Pro Wrestling in January 1997. In All Japan, Hase did not contend for any top titles despite his name recognition, as he made politics his full-time job.

In 2000, he founded the multi-promotional Bad Ass Translate Trading stable with Mutoh, Taiyō Kea and Jinsei Shinzaki; Hase and Mutoh reformed their team to battle Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata on October 8, the rising stars of their respective promotions (NOAH and NJPW), and were defeated in a ceremonial passing of the torch match that highlighted the advancement of professional wrestling in Japan.

When Mutoh (along with Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Ka Shin) jumped to All Japan the following year, Hase was seen as having influenced them (if not Mutoh at least) in their decision. Antonio Inoki, who had once preceded Hase to the Japanese Diet, blasted Hase and suggested that he resign his position in the Diet, but nothing came out of this.

Hase's final match occurred on August 27, 2006. He tagged with Katsuhiko Nakajima & Satoshi Kojima to face TARU, Kohei Suwama, & "brother" YASSHI of the Voodoo Murderers. He pinned YASSHI with a Northern Light Suplex for the victory, ending his in-ring career after 20 years. A week later, he was elected into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Retirement

On July 10, 2007, Hase took over the duty of the PWF chairman, after Stan Hansen (who held the position since 2000) voluntarily resigned from the position.[4]

On March 17, 2013, Hase announced that he was stepping down as chairman for the PWF after nearly six years. His last day as PWF chairman was June 21, 2013.[5]

Reputation

Among his peers, Hase is highly regarded as one of the most unselfish wrestlers in the professional wrestling industry, always willing to put anyone over. Hase also had the honor of learning under both Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, making him one of the few that learned under both men.

Political career

On July 1995, Hase was elected into the Japanese House of Councillors, the upper house of the National Diet, as an independent candidate representing Ishikawa Prefecture. This made him the second professional wrestler-turned-politician to be elected in a parliamentary seat, the first being Antonio Inoki.[3]

In 2000, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ishikawa Prefecture. From 2005 to 2006, he also served as the Senior Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.[6]

As a lawmaker, Hase has primarily focused on issues involving education, welfare, sports, and environment.[2][6] He is a defender of the Hague Convention and supports legislation intended to ensure visitation rights between children and their parents separated through divorce or other marital disputes in Japan.[7] In 2015, he also led a multiparty caucus intended to examine discrimination against the LGBT community in Japan, a move that is also intended to prepare the country for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[8]

On October 7, 2015, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe announced Hase as part of his cabinet, naming him the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.[1] He replaced Hakubun Shimomura, who stepped down from the post after being accused of mishandling the main stadium project for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[1][6]

Personal life

In 1994, Hase married Kyoko Takami, the daughter of writer Jun Takami.

In wrestling

  • "Tatakau Kokkaigiin"

Championships and accomplishments

1The championship was won in Tokyo, Japan as part of an interpromotional card between New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Abe retains key ministers, shifts focus to economy". Nikkei Asian Review. 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  2. 1 2 "Hase Hiroshi". Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  3. 1 2 "Inoki knocked out; Hashimoto skates to win". The Japan Times, Weekly international edition. 1995-07-31. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "全日本プロレス6・30両国大会に佐藤光留緊急参戦！海外遠征の延長を申し出た真田は欠場！馳氏が正式にPWF会長辞任". Battle News (in Japanese). 2013-06-25. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  6. 1 2 3 "Cabinet Profiles: Abe Cabinet (Formed October 7, 2015)". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  7. ↑ "Lawmakers launch group to ensure visitations after divorce". Kyodo News International (via Global Post). 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  8. ↑ Aoki, Mizuho (2015-03-17). "Multiparty group to examine LGBT discrimination". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  9. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2000". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  10. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Japan: New Japan G-1 (Grade-1) Climax Tag Tournament Champions". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 374. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  11. ↑ "2001 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  12. 1 2 3 http://www.purolove.com/awards.php
  13. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  14. ↑ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
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