In April 2000, Prime Minister Obuchi Keizō suffered a stroke. According to Kamei Shizuka, Chief Cabinet Secretary Aoki Mikio, now acting prime minister, called four other leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party to a meeting late at night: Mori Yoshirō, Nonaka Hiromu, Murakami Masakuni and Kamei himself. They became known as the gonin-gumi, the group of five. Newsweek Japan recalls that the media of the time accused the five of settling the next prime minister among themselves.
On April 5, a meeting of the party’s members of both houses, held in place of a party convention, elected Mori president unanimously. The first Mori cabinet took office the same day.