Kiichiro was imprisoned as a Class A war criminal at Sugamo Prison in 1946, making Kyoshiro the de facto patriarch of the family.

[2] Hiranuma attended Azabu High School and Keio University, and worked in the private sector at Nitto Boseki from 1962 to 1973.

He then ran for a seat in the House of Representatives twice and failed, but was finally elected in 1980 as a member of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party.

[5] Hiranuma retained his post in the cabinet reshuffle of September 2002, becoming the longest-serving trade minister of Japan in postwar period.

[4] Under the Koizumi government, Hiranuma came into conflict with Heizo Takenaka, an economist appointed to the Cabinet to promote Japanese economic revitalization.

[6] Hiranuma was fired in August 2005 when he refused to support Koizumi's plans to privatize Japan Post.

[11] In 2006, he argued against the proposed imperial reform bill on the grounds that Princess Aiko could potentially marry and have children with a "blue-eyed foreigner" in the future.