On this day, 27 years ago, July 24, 1998 (June 2, 1998 in the lunar calendar), Keizo Obuchi won the parliamentary election. Keizo Obuchi (left), Junichiro Koizumi (center) and Seiroku Oyama (right) together On July 24, 1998, Japanese Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi defeated former Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Oyama and current Minister of Health and Welfare Junichiro Koizumi with an absolute advantage of 225 votes at the Liberal Democratic Party's Assembly of the House and Senate, and was elected the 18th president of the Liberal Democratic Party. On July 30, Keizo Obuchi, the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, was elected as the 84th Prime Minister of Japan at the Provisional National Assembly of Japan. Keizo Obuchi was born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan on June 25, 1937. He graduated from Arid Inada University with a master's degree. In 1963, 26-year-old Obuchi won the Gunma Regional Council election and became the youngest member of the parliament at that time. In 1979, he joined the cabinet and served as director of the General Affairs Department, director of the Okinawa Development Agency, and chief cabinet secretary. In 1994, he served as vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party and later became the special chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's foreign economic cooperation committee. On September 12, 1997, he became Japanese Foreign Minister. Keizo Obuchi led delegations to visit China four times in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1997.