Jiro Hataka (Napoleon's World)

Jiro Hataka (June 5, 1931 - September 9, 2000) was a Japanese samurai and politician best known for serving as the Shogun of Japan from March 1, 1982 until February 1, 1991, overseeing a decade of unparalleled economic growth in Japan, driven by auto manufacturing and computer technology. While groomed for power by the beloved Asano Hinaga and enormously popular for most of his tenure, Hataka was involved in an embarassing episode while on a state visit to the White House in April of 1989 in which he and President Robert Redford drunkenly shot golf balls off of the White House roof, what would later be known as the golf incident. Due to public and political scrutiny afterwards, his policies were opposed more roundly in the Imperial Diet, especially amongst his opponents in the nobility. His request to commit seppuku was denied in January of 1991, and he resigned in disgrace on February 1, replaced by one of his longtime opponents, Ryuji Nagano.