Kan Cabinet
94th Cabinet of Japan
Prime Minister Naoto Kan (front row, centre) with his new cabinet inside the Kantei, June 8, 2010.
Date formed	June 8, 2010
Date dissolved	September 2, 2011
People and organisations
Head of state	Emperor Akihito
Head of government	Naoto Kan
Member party	DPJ–PNP Coalition
Status in legislature	HoR: DPJ–PNP Coalition majority HoC: DPJ–PNP Coalition majority, minority from July 2010
Opposition party	Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
Opposition leader	Sadakazu Tanigaki
History
Election(s)	2010 Japanese House of Councillors election
Predecessor	Hatoyama Cabinet
Successor	Noda Cabinet

The Kan Cabinet was the cabinet governing Japan from June 2010 to September 2011 under the leadership of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who came into power after winning the DPJ leadership election in June 2010. The Kan Cabinet oversaw the response to the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the scaling-down of Japan's nuclear energy dependence following the nuclear disaster at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Political background

The previous Prime Minister and DPJ president, Yukio Hatoyama resigned on 2 June 2010 on the background of an unpopular deal with the United States to retain the American military base in Okinawa and the DPJ's low poll numbers. Hatoyama's resignation triggered a DPJ presidential election, which was won by Finance Minister Naoto Kan. On 8 June, Kan was formally appointed by the Emperor as Japan's 94th Prime Minister.^[1] The new prime minister conducted a cabinet reshuffle and promoted some senior party members to important portfolios, notable Yoshihiko Noda to the Ministry of Finance and Yoshito Sengoku to the Cabinet Secretariat. Kan became the second DPJ prime minister in just eight months.

In spite of a temporary recovery in approval ratings, the government lost its majority in the House of Councillors in the July 2010 election and was subsequently dependent on parts of the opposition for getting any bill through the now-divided Diet.

His government poorly handled the response to the massive earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan. The following nuclear accidents at private utility company TEPCO's nuclear power plant in Fukushima spurred the government to change the course of Japan's energy policy. Reversing the pro-nuclear policy of the previous administrations, Kan's government pushed for a conversion to renewable energy and eventual shut-down of Japan's nuclear plants.^[2] Japan's nuclear power plants were completely shut down by May 2012, leaving Japan without nuclear-generated electricity for the first time since 1970.^[3] Several of the plants were only brought back online after the DPJ was no longer in government. The LDP government led by Shinzo Abe gradually reopened the nuclear plants, starting with Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kyushu in August 2015. The restart has been slow due to legal challenges and heavy domestic opposition.^[4]

Election of the prime minister

4 June 2010

House of Representatives Absolute majority (239/477) required
Choice		Vote
		Caucuses	Votes
	YNaoto Kan	DPJ (309), PNP (3), Independent [Speaker] (1)	313 / 477
	Sadakazu Tanigaki	LDP (115), Independent [Vice Speaker] (1)	116 / 477
	Natsuo Yamaguchi	Kōmeitō (21)	21 / 477
	Kazuo Shii	JCP (9)	9 / 477
	Mizuho Fukushima	Social Democratic Party of Japan (7)	7 / 477
	Yoshimi Watanabe	Your Party (5)	5 / 477
	Takeo Hiranuma	Sunrise Party (3), Hiranuma Group independents (2)	5 / 477
	Yōichi Masuzoe	Independent (1)	1 / 477
	Did not vote	Independent (2), DPJ (1)	3 / 480
Source: 174th Diet Session (House of Representatives) (roll call only lists individual votes, not grouped by caucus)

4 June 2010

House of Councillors Absolute majority (119/237) required
Choice		Vote
		Caucuses	Votes
	YNaoto Kan	DPJーShin-RyokufūkaiーPNP (122), Independent (1)	123 / 237
	Sadakazu Tanigaki	LDP (68), Independent [Yasuhiro Ōe and Tamon Hasegawa] (2), Independent [Vice President] (1)	71 / 237
	Natsuo Yamaguchi	Kōmeitō (21)	21 / 237
	Kazuo Shii	JCP (7)	7 / 237
	Mizuho Fukushima	Social Democratic Party of Japan (5), Independent (1)	6 / 237
	Yōichi Masuzoe	New Renaissance Party (6)	6 / 237
	Takeo Hiranuma	Sunrise Party (2)	2 / 237
	Yoshimi Watanabe	Independent (1)	1 / 237
	Did not vote	LDP (2), HRP (1), Independent [President] (1)	4 / 242
	Vacant		1 / 242
Source: 174th Diet Session (House of Councillors) (lists individual votes grouped by caucus)

Lists of ministers

  Democratic
  People's New
  Independent
R = Member of the House of Representatives
C = Member of the House of Councillors
N = Non-Diet member
Italics denote acting minister

Cabinet

First reshuffled cabinet

Second reshuffled cabinet