Cabinet of Japan

内閣 Naikaku
The Government Seal of Japan
Prime Minister's Official Residence
Agency overview
Formed	22 December 1885; 137 years ago (1885-12-22)
Preceding agency	Daijō-kan
Jurisdiction	Government of Japan
Headquarters	Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Agency executive	Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan
Child agencies	Prime Minister's Official Residence Cabinet Office (Japan) Ministries of Japan
Website	https://www.kantei.go.jp/

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The Cabinet of Japan (Japanese: 内閣, Hepburn: Naikaku) 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 Prime Minister is nominated by the National Diet, while the remaining ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the National Diet and must resign if a motion of no confidence is adopted by the National Diet.

Appointment

Under the Constitution of Japan, Cabinet ministers are appointed after the selection of the prime minister. A majority of the Cabinet, including the prime minister, must be members of the National Diet, and all members must be civilians. Under the Cabinet Law, the number of Cabinet Ministers (excluding the prime minister) must be fourteen or less, but this may be increased to nineteen if a special need arises. If the Cabinet collectively resigns, it continues to exercise its functions until the appointment of a new prime minister. While they are in office, legal action may not be taken against Cabinet ministers without the consent of the prime minister. The Cabinet must resign en masse in the following circumstances:

• When a motion of no confidence is adopted, or a vote of confidence defeated, by the House of Representatives, unless there is a dissolution of the house within ten days.
• Upon the first convocation of the National Diet after a general election to the House of Representatives (even if the same prime minister is to be re-elected and appointed, and every other minister is to be reappointed).
• When the position of prime minister becomes vacant, or the prime minister declares his intention to resign.

Powers

The Cabinet exercises two kinds of power. Some of its powers are nominally exercised by the Emperor with the binding "advice and approval" of the Cabinet. Other powers are explicitly vested in the Cabinet. Contrary to the practice in many constitutional monarchies, the Emperor is not even the nominal chief executive. Instead, the Constitution explicitly vests executive authority in the Cabinet. Hence, nearly all of the day-to-day work of governing is done by the Cabinet.

In practice, much of the Cabinet's authority is exercised by the prime minister. Under the Constitution, the prime minister exercises "control and supervision" over the executive branch, and no law or Cabinet order can take effect without the prime minister's countersignature (and the emperor's promulgation). While Cabinet Ministers in most other parliamentary democracies theoretically have some freedom of action (within the limits of cabinet collective responsibility), the Japanese Cabinet is effectively an extension of the prime minister's authority.

According to Article 75 of the Constitution, Ministers of State are not subject to legal action without the consent of the prime minister during their tenure of office.

Powers exercised via the Emperor

• Promulgation of amendment of the constitution, laws, cabinet orders and treaties.
• Convocation of the National Diet.
• Dissolution of the House of Representatives.
• Proclamation of general elections to the National Diet.
• Receiving of foreign ambassadors and ministers.
• Conferring of honours.

Explicit powers

• Execution of the law.
• Conduct of foreign affairs.
• Conclusion of treaties (with the consent of the National Diet).
• Administration of the civil service.
• Drafting of the budget (which must be adopted by the National Diet).
• Adoption of cabinet orders.
• Granting of general amnesty, special amnesty, commutation of punishment, reprieve, and restoration of rights.
• Signing of laws or cabinet orders by the relevant Minister of State and countersigned by the Prime Minister.
• Appointment of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of Japan (except for the Chief Justice, who is nominated by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Emperor).
• Appointment of vice-ministers (who are nominated by their respective minister to whom they will report).

List of cabinets of Japan

Under edicts and Meiji Constitution (1885–1947)

Cabinets between 1885 and 1947 were formed under the cabinet edicts of 1885 and 1889, under Meiji Constitution from 1890 to 1947. Cabinets were individually responsible to the Emperor, and prime ministers were appointed.

Oligarchic "transcendent" (non-/anti-partisan) cabinets

Interwar period / "Taishō democracy" party cabinets

Wartime "national unity" cabinets

Under Allied occupation

• 43. Higashikuni
• 44. Shidehara
• 45. Yoshida I (R)

Under current constitution (1947–present)

Cabinets since 1947 were formed under the Constitution of Japan. Cabinets were collectively responsible to the National Diet, and prime ministers were elected and appointed by the Emperor according to Article 6 of the Japanese Constitution.

Occupation period, multi-party system

LDP dominance

"Lost decades" coalition cabinets

Current Cabinet

As of 11 April 2023,^[update] the makeup of the Cabinet of Japan was:^[1]

101st Cabinet of Japan Second Kishida Cabinet (Reshuffled)
Color key:      Liberal Democratic      Komeito MR: member of the House of Representatives, MC: member of the House of Councillors, B: bureaucrat
Minister Constituency			Office(s)	Department	Took Office
Cabinet ministers
		Fumio Kishida MR for Hiroshima 1st	Prime Minister	Cabinet Office	4 October 2021 (20 months ago) (2021-10-04)
		Takeaki Matsumoto MR for Hyogo 11th	Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications	Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications	21 November 2022 (6 months ago) (2022-11-21)
		Ken Saitō MR for Chiba 7th	Minister of Justice	Ministry of Justice	11 November 2022 (7 months ago) (2022-11-11)
		Yoshimasa Hayashi MR for Yamaguchi 3rd	Minister for Foreign Affairs	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	10 November 2021 (19 months ago) (2021-11-10)
		Shun'ichi Suzuki MR for Iwate 2nd	Minister of Finance Minister of State for Financial Services Minister in charge of Overcoming Deflation	Ministry of Finance Financial Services Agency	4 October 2021 (20 months ago) (2021-10-04)
		Keiko Nagaoka MR for Ibaraki 7th	Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister in charge of Education Rebuilding	Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Katsunobu Katō MR for Okayama 5th	Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare	Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Tetsuro Nomura MC for Kagoshima at-large	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Yasutoshi Nishimura MR for Hyōgo 9th	Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Minister in charge of Industrial Competitiveness Minister for Economic Cooperation with Russia Minister in charge of the Response to the Economic Impact caused by the Nuclear Accident Minister of State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation	Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Tetsuo Saito MR for Hiroshima 3rd	Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister in charge of Water Cycle Policy Minister for the World Horticultural Exhibition Yokohama 2027	Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism	4 October 2021 (20 months ago) (2021-10-04)
		Akihiro Nishimura MR for Miyagi 3rd	Minister of the Environment Minister of State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness	Ministry of the Environment	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Yasukazu Hamada MR for Chiba 12th	Minister of Defense	Ministry of Defense	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Hirokazu Matsuno MR for Chiba 3rd	Chief Cabinet Secretary Minister in charge of Mitigating the Impact of U.S. Forces in Okinawa Minister in charge of the Abductions Issue Minister in Charge of Promoting Vaccinations	Cabinet Secretariat	4 October 2021 (20 months ago) (2021-10-04)
		Taro Kono MR for Kanagawa 15th	Minister for Digital Transformation Minister of State for Digital Reform Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform	Digital Agency Cabinet Office	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Hiromichi Watanabe MR for Chiba 6th	Minister of Reconstruction Minister in charge of Comprehensive Policy Coordination for Revival from the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima	Reconstruction Agency	27 December 2022 (5 months ago) (2022-12-27)
		Koichi Tani MR for Hyōgo 5th	Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of Building National Resilience Minister in charge of Territorial Issues Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform Minister of State for Disaster Management and Ocean Policy	National Public Safety Commission Cabinet Office	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Masanobu Ogura MR for Tokyo 23rd	Minister in charge of Policies Related to Children Minister in charge of Cohesive Society Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment Minister in charge of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate Minister of State for Gender Equality	Children and Families Agency Cabinet Office	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Shigeyuki Goto MR for Nagano 4th	Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Minister in charge of New Capitalism Minister in charge of Startups Minister in charge of Measures for Novel Coronavirus Disease and Health Crisis Management Minister in charge of Social Security Reform Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy	Cabinet Office	25 October 2022 (7 months ago) (2022-10-25)
		Sanae Takaichi MR for Nara 2nd	Minister in charge of Economic Security Minister of State for Intellectual Property Strategy Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Minister of State for Space Policy Minister of State for Economic Security	Cabinet Office	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)
		Naoki Okada MC for Ishikawa at-large	Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Minister of State for Regional Revitalization Minister of State for Regulatory Reform Minister of State for "Cool Japan" Strategy Minister of State for Ainu-Related Policies Minister in charge of Digital Garden City Nation Vision Minister for the World Expo 2025 Minister in charge of Administrative Reform	Cabinet Office	10 August 2022 (10 months ago) (2022-08-10)