Tsutomu Hata (羽田 孜, Hata Tsutomu, 24 August 1935 – 28 August 2017) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan for nine weeks in 1994.[1] He took over from Morihiro Hosokawa at the head of a coalition government. Shortly after he had been appointed Prime Minister, the Japanese Socialist Party left the government, leading to his early departure from office. He was a member of the lower house representing Nagano district #3. He was elected 14 times, retiring in 2012.