Editing Hitoshi Ashida (section)

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Japan in 1948}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Junior Second Rank]]
| name                = Hitoshi Ashida
| native_name         = {{nobold|芦田 均}}
| native_name_lang    = ja
| image               = Hitoshi Ashida.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1948
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch             = [[Hirohito]]
| governor            = [[Douglas MacArthur]]
| deputy              = [[Suehiro Nishio]]
| term_start          = 10 March 1948
| term_end            = 15 October 1948
| predecessor         = [[Tetsu Katayama]]
| successor           = [[Shigeru Yoshida]]
| office1             = [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister1      = Tetsu Katayama<br>''Himself''
| term_start1         = 1 June 1947
| term_end1           = 15 October 1948
| predecessor1        = Tetsu Katayama (acting)
| successor1          = Shigeru Yoshida
| office2             = [[Deputy Prime Minister of Japan]]
| primeminister2      = Tetsu Katayama
| term_start2         = 1 June 1947
| term_end2           = 10 March 1948
| predecessor2        = [[Kijūrō Shidehara]]
| successor2          = Suehiro Nishio
| office3             = [[Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare|Minister of Health and Welfare]]
| primeminister3      = Kijūrō Shidehara
| term_start3         = 9 October 1945
| term_end3           = 22 May 1946
| predecessor3        = [[Kenzō Matsumura]]
| successor3          = [[Yoshinari Kawai]]
| office4             = Member of the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]
| constituency4       = [[Kyoto 3rd district (1928–1942)|Kyoto 3rd]] (1932–1946)<br>[[Kyoto at-large district (House of Representatives)|Kyoto at-large]] (1946–1947)<br>[[Kyoto 2nd district (1947–1993)|Kyoto 2nd]] (1947–1959)
| term_start4         = 21 February 1932
| term_end4           = 20 June 1959
| predecessor4        = 
| successor4          = 
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1887|11|15|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Fukuchiyama, Kyoto]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1959|6|20|1887|11|15|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Minato, Tokyo]], Japan
| spouse              = {{marriage|Sumi Hase|1918}}
| signature           = AshidaH kao.png
| party               = [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] (1955–1959)
| otherparty          = [[Rikken Seiyūkai]] (before 1940)<br>[[Imperial Rule Assistance Association|IRAA]] (1940–1945)<br>[[Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)|JLP]] (1945–1947)<br>[[Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)|DP]] (1947–1950)<br>[[National Democratic Party (Japan)|NDP]] (1950–1952)<br>[[Kaishintō]] (1952–1954)<br>[[Japan Democratic Party (1954)|JDP]] (1954–1955)
| alma_mater          = [[University of Tokyo|Tokyo Imperial University]]
}}
{{Nihongo|'''Hitoshi Ashida'''|芦田 均|Ashida Hitoshi|15 November 1887 – 20 June 1959}} was a Japanese [[politician]] who served as [[Prime Minister of Japan]] in 1948. He was a prominent figure in the immediate postwar political landscape, but was forced to resign his leadership responsibilities after a corruption scandal (Shōwa Denkō Jiken) targeting two of his cabinet ministers.