# Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications

The Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications (総務大臣, Soumu Daijin) is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japan.
The current minister is Seiichiro Murakami, who took office on October 1, 2024.

## List of ministers for internal affairs and communications (2001–)

Liberal Democratic  Democratic
 Independent
| Internal Affairs Minister | Internal Affairs Minister | Internal Affairs Minister | Internal Affairs Minister | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| # | Portrait | Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Days | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| 1 | | | Toranosuke Katayama | January 6, 2001 | September 22, 2003 | 989 | | Yoshirō Mori |
| 1 | | | Toranosuke Katayama | January 6, 2001 | September 22, 2003 | 989 | | Junichiro Koizumi |
| 2 | | | Taro Aso | September 22, 2003 | October 31, 2005 | 770 | | Junichiro Koizumi |
| 3 | | | Heizō Takenaka | October 31, 2005 | September 26, 2006 | 330 | | Junichiro Koizumi |
| 4 | | | Yoshihide Suga | September 26, 2006 | August 27, 2007 | 335 | | Shinzō Abe |
| 5 | | | Hiroya Masuda | August 27, 2007 | September 24, 2008 | 394 | | Shinzō Abe |
| 5 | | | Hiroya Masuda | August 27, 2007 | September 24, 2008 | 394 | | Yasuo Fukuda |
| 6 | | | Kunio Hatoyama | September 24, 2008 | June 12, 2009 | 261 | | Taro Aso |
| 7 | | | Tsutomu Sato | June 12, 2009 | September 16, 2009 | 96 | | Taro Aso |
| 8 | | | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | September 16, 2009 | September 17, 2010 | 366 | | Yukio Hatoyama |
| 8 | | | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | September 16, 2009 | September 17, 2010 | 366 | | Naoto Kan |
| 9 | | | Yoshihiro Katayama | September 17, 2010 | September 2, 2011 | 350 | | Naoto Kan |
| 10 | | | Tatsuo Kawabata | September 2, 2011 | October 1, 2012 | 395 | | Yoshihiko Noda |
| 11 | | | Shinji Tarutoko | October 1, 2012 | December 26, 2012 | 86 | | Yoshihiko Noda |
| 12 | | | Yoshitaka Shindō | December 26, 2012 | September 3, 2014 | 616 | | Shinzō Abe |
| 14 | | | Sanae Takaichi | September 3, 2014 | August 3, 2017 | 1065 | | Shinzō Abe |
| 15 | | | Seiko Noda | August 3, 2017 | October 2, 2018 | 425 | | Shinzō Abe |
| 16 | | | Masatoshi Ishida | October 2, 2018 | September 11, 2019 | 344 | | Shinzō Abe |
| (14) | | | Sanae Takaichi | September 11, 2019 | September 16, 2020 | 371 | | Shinzō Abe |
| 17 | | | Ryota Takeda | September 16, 2020 | October 4, 2021 | 383 | | Yoshihide Suga |
| 18 | | | Yasushi Kaneko | October 4, 2021 | August 10, 2022 | 310 | | Fumio Kishida |
| 19 | | | Minoru Terada | August 10, 2022 | November 20, 2022 | 102 | | Fumio Kishida |
| 20 | | | Takeaki Matsumoto | November 21, 2022 | September 13, 2023 | 296 | | Fumio Kishida |
| 21 | | | Junji Suzuki | September 13, 2023 | December 14, 2023 | 92 | | Fumio Kishida |
| (20) | | | Takeaki Matsumoto | December 14, 2023 | October 1, 2024 | 292 | | Fumio Kishida |
| 22 | | | Seiichiro Murakami | October 1, 2024 | Incumbent | 21 | | Shigeru Ishiba |
| Reference: soumu.go.jp |||||||||