The prime minister of Japan is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence Forces and is a sitting member of either house of the National Diet.
The Cabinet of Japan is the chief executive body of the government of Japan. It consists of the prime minister, who is appointed by the Emperor after being nominated by the National Diet, in addition to up to nineteen other members, called ministers of state. The current cabinet is Second Ishiba Cabinet, which was formed on 11 November 2024, is led by the prime minister Shigeru Ishiba. The country has had a Liberal Democratic–Komeito coalition cabinet since 2024.
Mikio Aoki was a Japanese politician who served as the Chief Cabinet Secretary from 1999 to 2000, and was briefly acting prime minister following Keizō Obuchi's coma. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he also served as the Chairman of the LDP in the House of Councillors.
Shigeru Ishiba is a Japanese politician serving as prime minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1986 and has served as Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2008 to 2009, as well as being the Secretary-General of the LDP from 2012 to 2014.
Tarō Asō is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2021. He was the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Japanese history, having previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2003 to 2005. He leads the Shikōkai faction within the LDP.
Gen Nakatani is a Japanese politician who was Director General of the Japan Defense Agency in the first cabinet of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2001-2002 and was appointed the Minister of Defense by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014. Nakatani was again named to the position of Minister of Defense for the cabinet of Shigeru Ishiba in 2024.
Yōko Kamikawa is a Japanese politician and former think tank researcher who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs between September 2023 and October 2024. She served as the Minister of Justice from September 2020 to October 2021, and also served as Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs in the cabinets of Shinzō Abe and Yasuo Fukuda. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since December 2012.
Toshimitsu Motegi is a Japanese politician who served as the Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2021 to 2024. He has previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2021, and as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2012 to 2014. He is serving in the House of Representatives as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He leads the Heisei Kenkyūkai faction within the LDP.
Katsunobu Katō is a Japanese politician, who previously served as the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare at three times from 2017 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2020 and again from 2022 to 2023. He was named to fill the position of Minister of Finance in 2024. He also served as the Chief Cabinet Secretary from 2020 to 2021. Belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2003.
Factions are an accepted part of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the ruling party of Japan, which began with eight formal factions when it was first formed by merger in 1955. A political faction may be defined as a sub-group within a larger organization. While factions characterize other political parties in Pacific Asia, Japanese factionalism is distinguished by its stability and institutionalization. Although factions reconstitute themselves from time to time, the habatsu active today can be traced back to their 1955 roots, a testament to the stability and institutionalized nature of Liberal Democratic Party factions.
Shinjirō Koizumi is a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of the Environment from September 2019 to October 2021. He also serves as a Member of the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party. He is the second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the younger brother of actor Kotaro Koizumi.
Ken Saitō is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party who has been the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry since December 2023. Also serving in the Japanese House of Representatives, Saito served as the Minister of Justice from November 2022 to September 2023 and was the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from August 2017 to October 2018.
A presidential election was held on 20 September 2018 to elect the next president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan for a new 3-year term. Incumbent president Shinzo Abe was running for re-election after a rule change in 2017 that allowed him to run for a third term.
The 2020 Liberal Democratic Party of Japan presidential election was triggered by Shinzo Abe's announcement on 28 August 2020 that he would resign as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Japan, citing a relapse of his colitis. Voting took place on 14 September 2020 to elect the next president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, three days before the National Diet was scheduled to hold a session to elect the new prime minister. Initially scheduled to be held in September 2021, incumbent LDP president and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, suddenly resigned on 28 August 2020, citing recent health concerns, prompting an election to select the President to serve the rest of Abe's term.
General elections were held in Japan on 27 October 2024 due to the early dissolution of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet, by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Voting took place in all constituencies, including proportional blocks, to elect all 465 members of the House of Representatives.
Shun'ichi Kuryu is a Japanese police officer who has served as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary since October 2021. He previously served as Commissioner General of the National Police Agency from 2018 to 2020.
Jirō Ishiba was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as the governor of Tottori and as a member of the House of Councillors. He also held other high-ranking positions, including Minister of Home Affairs and Vice Minister of Construction. His son Shigeru Ishiba is the current Prime Minister of Japan.
The First Ishiba Cabinet was the 102nd Cabinet of Japan, formed by Shigeru Ishiba on 1 October 2024, following the resignation of Fumio Kishida after the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election on 27 September 2024. It has 20 members, including two women. The government was a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito who controlled both the upper and lower houses of the National Diet.
The Second Ishiba Cabinet is the 103rd Cabinet of Japan, formed by Shigeru Ishiba on 11 November 2024, following the general election on 27 October 2024. Members of the First Ishiba Cabinet were reappointed except for Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, Tourism Tetsuo Saito, who has become the Chief Representative of Komeito, Minister of Justice Hideki Makihara who lost his seat in the last general election and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yasuhiro Ozato who lost his seat in the last general election.