'Godmother' of Japan's Kennedys dies

Tokyo, Feb 12 (AFP) The mother of former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, who was dubbed the "Godmother" of a powerful political and business clan, has died, her younger son's office said today. She was 90. Yasuko Hatoyama, the daughter of the founder of tyremaker Bridgestone, married into the Hatoyamas, a powerful political family sometimes dubbed "Japan's Kennedys". She married former foreign minister Iichiro Hatoyama, whose father was a prime minister shortly after World War II. Her sons both became parliamentarians, with the older, Yukio, becoming prime minister in 2009 as the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan. He stepped down after less than nine months amid widespread complaints about his dithering and his weak leadership style. Yasuko Hatoyama was for a long time seen as the real power in the family, which led to her being dubbed the "Godmother", a play on the 1972 US mafia movie "The Godfather". She continued to be a controversial figure in Japanese politics, allegedly gifting hundreds of millions of yen to her sons in Bridgestone shares and in cash. This was probed as a possible illegal political donation, but no charges were ever laid against her.(AFP) BOD 02121137 NNNN