Former Japanese PM Nakasone Dies

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a conservative yet reform-minded leader whose impact is still felt to this day, died on Friday. He was 101.
As prime minister from 1982 to 1987, Nakasone promoted administrative and financial reforms, including the privatization of Japan National Railway, under the slogan "total reassessment postwar politics," Nikkei Asian Review reported.
He also strengthened the Japan-US alliance through his close personal relationship with former US president, Ronald Reagan. The "Ron-Yasu" friendship helped the two sides navigate the trade friction that strained US-Japan ties in the 1980s.
Nakasone pushed for administrative reforms, including the privatization of key state-owned enterprises such as Japan National Railway, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation and Japanese Monopoly Corporation.
Nakasone spent 1,806 days in office -- the seventh-longest term for a Japanese prime minister. After retiring as a lawmaker in 2003, he continued to speak out on issues including constitutional revision and regional diplomacy.