Ichiro Tanaka (Napoleon's World)

Ichiro Tanaka, Daimyo (August 17, 1898 - October 5, 1981) was a Japanese shogun who served for fourteen years, the longest term in the 20th century. A moderate compromise candidate following the seppuku of Tekeshi Hichimara in 1953, Tanaka oversaw a very gradual opening of the Japanese economy, including the first-ever elimination of tariffs on foreign imports in the country's history in 1960. He approved of the Japanese nuclear program in 1964, feeling it was important for Japan to have a deterrent to protect its neutrality from the United States and France, and the first Japanese nuclear weapon would be detonated in 1973, after he had left office. A junior Naval officer in the Pacific War, Tanaka also oversaw the first efforts since the early 1930s to rebuild Japan's once-dominant Navy and by the end of his service had made Imperial Navy of Japan the world's largest by servicemen and number of ships. Tanaka resigned due to poor health in 1967 as a popular figure and retired to northern Japan, where he lived until his death in 1981.