The political career of the late Noboru Takeshita was rocked by a series of scandals that forced him to largely wield his influence from behind the scenes after he stepped down as prime minister in 1989.
People who knew him describe him as a "caring man" who often gave others the credit for his own achievements, but he was also known as a power-oriented politician who inherited the style of his mentor — the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka — and was frequently the target of allegations of corruption.
Despite his solid grip on power within the Liberal Democratic Party, Takeshita was a short-lived prime minister who occupied the office for only 11/2 years from November 1987.