On April 2, 2000, Prime Minister Obuchi Keizō was taken to the hospital with a stroke. That night, five senior figures of the Liberal Democratic Party met at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Tokyo: Aoki Mikio, Nonaka Hiromu, Murakami Masakuni, Kamei Shizuka and Mori Yoshirō. They settled on Mori as Obuchi’s successor. The cabinet resigned on April 4, and the Mori cabinet took office on April 5.
The press called the five the gonin-gumi, the group of five, and their meeting a misshitsu, closed-room, decision. Critics said that the way the successor was chosen left large questions about the government’s legitimacy.