# Third Abe Cabinet

The Third Abe cabinet governed Japan under the leadership of the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, from December 2014 to November 2017. The government was a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito (which had changed its name from "New Komeito" in the 2012–2014 term) and controlled both the upper and lower houses of the National Diet.
Following the 2017 general election, the Third Abe cabinet was dissolved on November 1, 2017, and it was replaced by the Fourth Abe cabinet.

## Background

Following the snap "Abenomics Dissolution" and general election of 2014, Abe was re-elected by the Diet and chose to retain all the ministers from his previous cabinet except the defense minister, Akinori Eto, who had been involved in a money scandal. Abe explained that he aimed to avoid the disruption of another major personnel change only three months after the September cabinet reshuffle.
Abe conducted three reshuffles of his third administration. The first took place in October 2015 following his re-election to another three-year term as president of the LDP and the launch of his "Abenomics 2.0" policies. The second reshuffle occurred in August 2016, following the victory of the ruling coalition in the July 2016 upper house elections, the first time since 1989 that the LDP held an outright majority in the House of Councillors. The third reshuffle occurred in August 2017.

## Election of the prime minister

24 December 2014 :
| House of Representatives Absolute majority (236/470) required ||||
| Choice | Choice | Vote | Vote |
| Choice | Choice | Caucuses | Votes |
| | YShinzō Abe | LDP (290), Independent [Speaker] (1), NKP (35), Others (2) | 328 / 470 |
| | Katsuya Okada | DPJ (72), Independent [Vice-Speaker] (1) | 73 / 470 |
| | Kenji Eda | Japan Innovation Party (41) | 41 / 470 |
| | Kazuo Shii | JCP (18) | 18 / 470 |
| | Takeo Hiranuma | PfG (2), Independent (1) | 3 / 470 |
| | Tadatomo Yoshida | SDP (2) | 2 / 470 |
| | Keiichirō Asao | Independent (1) | 1 / 470 |
| | Toshinobu Nakazato | Independent (1) | 1 / 470 |
| | Blank ballots | Independents/Others (2) | 2 / 470 |
| | Unattributable vote | (1) | 1 / 470 |
| Source: 188th Diet Session (House of Representatives) Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine (roll call only lists individual votes, not grouped by caucus) ||||
24 December 2014 :
| House of Councillors Absolute majority (121/240) required ||||
| Choice | Choice | Vote | Vote |
| Choice | Choice | Caucuses | Votes |
| | YShinzō Abe | LDP (113), NKP (20), AEJ (2) | 135 / 240 |
| | Katsuya Okada | DPJ-SR (58), PLP (2), Independent [Vice-President] (1) | 61 / 240 |
| | Kenji Eda | JIP (11) | 11 / 240 |
| | Kazuo Shii | JCP (11) | 11 / 240 |
| | Takeo Hiranuma | PFG (6) | 6 / 240 |
| | Tadatomo Yoshida | SDP (3), Independent [OSMP (1) | 4 / 240 |
| | Hiroyuki Arai | NRP-Group of Independents (2) | 2 / 240 |
| | Kōta Matsuda | AEJ (2) | 2 / 240 |
| | Tarō Yamada | AEJ (1) | 1 / 240 |
| | Tarō Yamamoto | Independent (1) | 1 / 240 |
| | Blank ballots | PFG (1), AEJ (1), Independent Club (4) | 6 / 240 |
| Source: 188th Diet Session (House of Councillors) (lists individual votes grouped by caucus) ||||

## Lists of ministers

Liberal Democratic  Komeito R = Member of the House of Representatives C = Member of the House of Councillors　 N = Non-Diet member

### Cabinet

Third Abe cabinet from December 24, 2014 to October 7, 2015 :
| Portfolio | Minister | Minister | Term |
| Prime minister | Shinzō Abe | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Deputy prime minister Minister of finance Minister of state for financial services Minister in charge of overcoming deflation | Tarō Asō | R | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |
| Minister for internal affairs and communications | Sanae Takaichi | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of justice | Yōko Kamikawa | R | October 20, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of foreign affairs | Fumio Kishida | R | December 26, 2012 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology Minister in charge of education rebuilding | Hakubun Shimomura | R | December 26, 2012 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of health, labour, and welfare | Yasuhisa Shiozaki | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries | Koya Nishikawa | R | September 3, 2014 – February 23, 2015 |
| Minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries | Yoshimasa Hayashi | C | February 23, 2015 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of economy, trade and industry Minister in charge of industrial competitiveness 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 | Yoichi Miyazawa | C | October 20, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism Minister in charge of water cycle policy | Akihiro Ota | R | December 26, 2012 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of the environment Minister of state for nuclear emergency preparedness | Yoshio Mochizuki | R | September 3, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of defence Minister in charge of security legislation | Gen Nakatani | R | December 24, 2014 – August 3, 2016 |
| Chief cabinet secretary Minister in charge of alleviating the burden of the bases in Okinawa | Yoshihide Suga | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Minister of reconstruction Minister in charge of comprehensive policy co-ordination for revival from the nuclear accident at Fukushima | Wataru Takeshita | R | September 3, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of the abduction issue Minister in charge of ocean policy and territorial issues Minister in charge of building national resilience Minister of state for disaster management | Eriko Yamatani | C | September 3, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs Minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety Minister of state for science and technology policy Minister of state for space policy Minister in charge of information technology policy Minister in charge of "Challenge Again" initiative Minister in charge of "Cool Japan" Strategy | Shunichi Yamaguchi | R | September 3, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister in charge of support for women's empowerment Minister in charge of administrative reform Minister in charge of civil service reform Minister of state for regulatory reform Minister of state for measures for declining birthrate Minister of state for gender equality | Haruko Arimura | C | September 3, 2014 – October 7, 2015 |
| Minister in charge of economic revitalization Minister in charge of total reform of social security and tax Minister of state for economic and fiscal policy | Akira Amari | R | December 26, 2012 – January 28, 2016 |
| Minister in charge of overcoming population decline and vitalizing local economy in Japan Minister of state for the National Strategic Special Zones | Shigeru Ishiba | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games | Toshiaki Endo | R | June 25, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries |||||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Representatives) | Katsunobu Kato | R | December 26, 2012 – October 7, 2015 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Councillors) | Hiroshige Seko | C | December 26, 2012 – August 13, 2016 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) | Kazuhiro Sugita | – | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |

#### Changes

* February 23, 2015 – The agriculture minister, Koya Nishikawa, resigned because of a campaign finance scandal. His immediate predecessor, Yoshimasa Hayashi, was recalled to replace him.
* June 25, 2015 – A new position of minister for the Olympics was created. Toshiaki Endo was appointed the inaugural minister.

### First reshuffled cabinet

Third Abe cabinet from October 7, 2015 to August 3, 2016 :
| Portfolio | Minister | Minister | Term |
| Prime minister | Shinzō Abe | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Deputy prime minister Minister of finance Minister of state for financial services Minister in charge of overcoming deflation | Tarō Asō | R | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |
| Minister for internal affairs and communications | Sanae Takaichi | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of justice | Mitsuhide Iwaki | C→N | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister of foreign affairs | Fumio Kishida | R | December 26, 2012 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology Minister in charge of education rebuilding | Hiroshi Hase | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister of health, labour, and welfare | Yasuhisa Shiozaki | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries | Hiroshi Moriyama | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister of economy, trade and industry Minister in charge of industrial competitiveness 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 | Motoo Hayashi | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism Minister in charge of water cycle policy | Keiichi Ishii | R | October 7, 2015 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister of the environment Minister of state for nuclear emergency preparedness | Tamayo Marukawa | C | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister of defence | Gen Nakatani | R | December 24, 2014 – August 3, 2016 |
| Chief cabinet secretary Minister in charge of alleviating the burden of the bases in Okinawa | Yoshihide Suga | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Minister of reconstruction Minister in charge of comprehensive policy co-ordination for revival from the nuclear accident at Fukushima | Tsuyoshi Takagi | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of administrative reform Minister in charge of civil service reform Minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety Minister of state for regulatory reform Minister of state for disaster management | Taro Kono | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs Minister of state for science and technology policy Minister of state for space policy Minister in charge of ocean policy and territorial issues Minister in charge of information technology policy Minister in charge of "Cool Japan" strategy | Aiko Shimajiri | C→N | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister in charge of economic revitalization Minister in charge of total reform of social security and tax Minister of state for economic and fiscal policy | Akira Amari | R | December 26, 2012 – January 28, 2016 |
| Minister in charge of economic revitalization Minister in charge of total reform of social security and tax Minister of state for economic and fiscal policy | Nobuteru Ishihara | R | January 28, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister for promoting dynamic engagement of all citizens Minister in charge of women's empowerment Minister in charge of "Challenge Again" initiative Minister in charge of the abduction issue Minister in charge of building national resilience Minister of state for measures for declining birthrate Minister of state for gender equality | Katsunobu Katō | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister in charge of overcoming population decline and vitalizing local economy in Japan Minister of State for the National Strategic Special Zones | Shigeru Ishiba | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2016 |
| Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games | Toshiaki Endo | R | June 25, 2015 – August 3, 2016 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries |||||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Representatives) | Kōichi Hagiuda | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2017 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Councillors) | Hiroshige Seko | C | December 26, 2012 – August 13, 2016 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) | Kazuhiro Sugita | – | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |

#### Changes

* January 28, 2016 – The economic revitalization minister, Akira Amari, resignedbecause of a bribery scandal and was replaced with Nobuteru Ishihara.
* July 2016 – The justice minister, Mitsuhide Iwaki, and the Okinawa minister, Aiko Shimajiri, lost their seats in the House of Councillors election but remained in office as ministers until the August cabinet reshuffle.

### Second reshuffled cabinet

Third Abe cabinet from August 3, 2016 to August 3, 2017 :
| Portfolio | Minister | Minister | Term |
| Prime minister | Shinzō Abe | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2021 |
| Deputy prime minister Minister of finance Minister of state for financial services Minister in charge of overcoming deflation | Tarō Asō | R | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |
| Minister for internal affairs and communications Minister of state for the social security and tax number system | Sanae Takaichi | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of justice | Katsutoshi Kaneda | R | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of foreign affairs | Fumio Kishida | R | December 26, 2012 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology Minister in charge of education rebuilding | Hirokazu Matsuno | R | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of health, labour, and welfare | Yasuhisa Shiozaki | R | September 3, 2014 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries | Yuji Yamamoto | R | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of economy, trade and industry Minister in charge of industrial competitiveness Minister for economic co-operation 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 | Hiroshige Sekō | C | August 3, 2016 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism Minister in charge of water cycle policy | Keiichi Ishii | R | October 7, 2015 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister of the environment Minister of state for nuclear emergency preparedness | Koichi Yamamoto | R | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of defence | Tomomi Inada | R | August 3, 2016 – July 28, 2017 |
| Chief cabinet secretary Minister in charge of alleviating the burden of the bases in Okinawa | Yoshihide Suga | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Minister of reconstruction Minister in charge of comprehensive policy co-ordination for revival from the nuclear accident at Fukushima | Masahiro Imamura | R | August 3, 2016 – April 26, 2017 |
| Minister of reconstruction Minister in charge of comprehensive policy co-ordination for revival from the nuclear accident at Fukushima | Masayoshi Yoshino | R | April 26, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of ocean policy and territorial issues Minister in charge of building national resilience Minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety Minister of state for disaster management | Jun Matsumoto | R | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs Minister of state for "Cool Japan" strategy Minister of State for the intellectual property strategy Minister of state for science and technology policy Minister of state for space policy Minister in charge of information technology policy | Yōsuke Tsuruho | C | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister in charge of economic revitalization Minister in charge of total reform of social security and tax Minister of state for economic and fiscal policy | Nobuteru Ishihara | R | January 28, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister for promoting dynamic engagement of all citizens Minister for working-style reform Minister in charge of women's empowerment Minister in charge of "Challenge Again" initiative Minister in charge of the abduction issue Minister of state for measures for declining birthrate Minister of state for gender equality | Katsunobu Katō | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister in charge of overcoming population decline and vitalizing local economy in Japan Minister of state for regulatory reform Minister in charge of overcoming population decline and vitalizing local economy in Japan Minister in charge of administrative reform Minister in charge of civil service reform | Kozo Yamamoto | R | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games | Tamayo Marukawa | C | August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries |||||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Representatives) | Kōichi Hagiuda | R | October 7, 2015 – August 3, 2017 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Councillors) | Kōtarō Nogami | C | August 13, 2016 – September 11, 2019 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) | Kazuhiro Sugita | – | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |

#### Changes

* April 26, 2017 – The reconstruction minister, Masahiro Imamura, was dismissed because of comments he made about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and was replaced by Masayoshi Yoshino.
* July 28, 2017 – The defense minister, Tomomi Inada, resigned.

### Third reshuffled cabinet

Third Abe cabinet from August 3, 2017 to November 1, 2017 :
| Portfolio | Minister | Minister | Term |
| Prime minister | Shinzō Abe | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Deputy prime minister Minister of finance Minister of state for financial services Minister in charge of overcoming deflation | Tarō Asō | R | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |
| Minister for internal affairs and communications Minister in charge of women's empowerment Minister of state for the social security and tax number system | Seiko Noda | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of justice | Yōko Kamikawa | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of foreign affairs | Taro Kono | R | August 3, 2017 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology Minister in charge of education rebuilding | Yoshimasa Hayashi | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of health, labour, and welfare Minister for working-style reform Minister in charge of the abduction issue Minister of state for the abduction issue | Katsunobu Katō | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries | Ken Saitō | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of economy, trade and industry Minister in charge of industrial competitiveness Minister for economic co-operation 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 | Hiroshige Sekō | C | August 3, 2016 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism Minister in charge of water cycle policy | Keiichi Ishii | R | October 7, 2015 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister of the environment Minister of state for nuclear emergency preparedness | Masaharu Nakagawa | C | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of defence | Itsunori Onodera | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Chief cabinet secretary Minister in charge of alleviating the burden of the bases in Okinawa | Yoshihide Suga | R | December 26, 2012 – September 16, 2020 |
| Minister of reconstruction Minister in charge of comprehensive policy coordination for revival from the nuclear accident at Fukushima | Masayoshi Yoshino | R | April 26, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of building national resilience Minister of state for disaster management | Hachiro Okonogi | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs Minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety Minister of state for ocean policy Minister in charge of territorial issues | Tetsuma Esaki | R | August 3, 2017 – February 27, 2018 |
| Minister in charge of economic revitalization Minister in charge of total reform of social security and tax Minister of state for economic and fiscal policy | Toshimitsu Motegi | R | August 3, 2017 – September 11, 2019 |
| Minister for promoting dynamic engagement of all citizens Minister in charge of information technology policy Minister of state for measures for declining birthrate Minister of state for gender equality Minister of state for "Cool Japan" strategy Minister of state for the intellectual property strategy Minister of state for science and technology policy Minister of state for space policy | Masaji Matsuyama | C | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister of state for regional revitalization Minister of state for regulatory reform Minister in charge of regional revitalization Minister in charge of administrative reform Minister in charge of civil service reform | Hiroshi Kajiyama | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games | Shunichi Suzuki | R | August 3, 2017 – October 2, 2018 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries |||||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Representatives) | Yasutoshi Nishimura | R | August 3, 2017 – September 11, 2019 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs – House of Councillors) | Kōtarō Nogami | C | August 13, 2016 – September 11, 2019 |
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) | Kazuhiro Sugita | – | December 26, 2012 – October 4, 2021 |