Former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, a veteran lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said Tuesday he will retire from politics at the end of his current term in the Lower House.
Hata, 75, in his 14th term in the Lower House, served as prime minister in a coalition government for two months between April and June 1994 while leading the now-defunct Japan Renewal Party.
He later headed three more small parties before joining the DPJ in 1998 following an alignment of opposition parties. He also held Cabinet portfolios as agriculture minister, finance minister and foreign minister between 1988 and 1994.
The current terms of Lower House members will expire in 2013, barring a snap election.