# Hatoyama Cabinet

The Yukio Hatoyama Cabinet governed Japan from September 2009 to June 2010, following the landslide victory of the Democratic Party of Japan in the general election on 30 August 2009. The election marked the first time in Japanese post-war history that voters delivered the control of the government to the opposition. The cabinet was also the first since Hata Cabinet in 1994 that included no members of the LDP.

## Political background

Yukio Hatoyama and the DPJ came into power after their historic victory in the 2009 general election. The DPJ won more than 300 House of Representatives seats in the election and inflicted the worst defeat for a sitting government in modern Japanese history to the LDP. Hatoyama entered office with high approval ratings amid high public expectations to recover the Great Recession-hit economy and reform Japan's stagnant politics. These high expectations contributed to a drop in popularity of the government. The government became more unpopular after it broke a campaign promise of closing down an American air base in Okinawa Prefecture. Hatoyama initially moved to close down the base after the election, but relented to the pressure from the American government. Hatoyama also cited the escalation of tension in the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan as a factor that contributed to the base being kept. The continuous drop in the government's approval ratings led to Hatoyama's resignation on 2 June 2010.
During his short premiership, Hatoyama managed to pass a relatively significant amount of progressive reforms, including the introduction of new social benefits for families, a marked increase in the education budget, the abolition of public high school tuition fees and welfare expansion. Japan also developed a more Asia-focused policy and a warmer relations with China under Hatoyama, culminated with a visit by then-Vice President Xi Jinping to Tokyo in January 2010.

## Election of the prime minister

16 September 2009 :
| House of Representatives Absolute majority (241/480) required ||||
| Choice | Choice | Vote | Vote |
| Choice | Choice | Caucuses | Votes |
| | YYukio Hatoyama | DPJ (308), SDP (7), Your Party (5), PNP (3), Independent (2), NPN (1), NPD (1), Independent [Speaker] (1) | 327 / 480 |
| | Masatoshi Wakabayashi | LDP (118), Independent [Vice Speaker] (1) | 119 / 480 |
| | Natsuo Yamaguchi | Kōmeitō (21) | 21 / 480 |
| | Kazuo Shii | JCP (9) | 9 / 480 |
| | Takeo Hiranuma | Hiranuma Group independents (3), Independent (1) | 4 / 480 |
| Source: 172nd Diet Session (House of Representatives) (roll call only lists individual votes, not grouped by caucus) ||||
16 September 2009 :
| House of Councillors Absolute majority (119/237) required ||||
| Choice | Choice | Vote | Vote |
| Choice | Choice | Caucuses | Votes |
| | YYukio Hatoyama | DPJーShin-Ryokufūkai (117), SDP (5), Independents [Keiko Itokazu and Ryūhei Kawada] (2) | 124 / 242 |
| | Masatoshi Wakabayashi | LDP (84) | 84 / 242 |
| | Natsuo Yamaguchi | Kōmeitō (21) | 21 / 242 |
| | Kazuo Shii | JCP (7) | 7 / 242 |
| | Blank ballot | Independent [Vice President] (1) | 1 / 242 |
| | Did not vote | Independent [President] (1), LDP (1) | 2 / 242 |
| | Vacant | Vacant | 2 / 242 |
| Source: 172nd Diet Session (House of Councillors) (lists individual votes grouped by caucus) ||||

## Lists of ministers

Democratic  Social Democratic  People's New R = Member of the House of Representatives C = Member of the House of Councillors

### Cabinet

Cabinet of Yukio Hatoyama from September 16, 2009 to June 8, 2010 :
| Portfolio | Minister | Minister | Term |
| Prime Minister | Yukio Hatoyama | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Deputy Prime Minister Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy | Naoto Kan | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Minister of State for Promotion of Local Sovereignty | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Justice | Keiko Chiba | C | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Katsuya Okada | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Finance | Hirohisa Fujii | R | September 16, 2009 – January 7, 2010 |
| Minister of Finance | Naoto Kan | R | January 7 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology | Tatsuo Kawabata | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare Minister of State for Pension Reform | Akira Nagatsuma | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | Hirotaka Akamatsu | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry | Masayuki Naoshima | C | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs | Seiji Maehara | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of the Environment | Sakihito Ozawa | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of Defence | Toshimi Kitazawa | C | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary Minister in charge of Alleviating the Burden of the Bases in Okinawa | Hirofumi Hirano | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister of State for the Abduction Issue | Hiroshi Nakai | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Disaster Management | Seiji Maehara | R | September 16, 2009 – January 12, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Disaster Management | Hiroshi Nakai | R | January 12 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Financial Services Minister of State for Postal Reform | Shizuka Kamei | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate Minister of State for Gender Equality | Mizuho Fukushima | C | September 16, 2009 – May 28, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate Minister of State for Gender Equality | Hirofumi Hirano | R | May 28 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy | Naoto Kan | R | September 16, 2009 – January 7, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy | Tatsuo Kawabata | R | January 7 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of State for the New Public Commons Minister of State for Civil Service Reform Minister of State for National Policy | Yoshito Sengoku | R | September 16, 2009 – June 8, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Government Revitalization | Yoshito Sengoku | R | September 16, 2009 – February 10, 2010 |
| Minister of State for Government Revitalization | Yukio Edano | R | February 10 – June 8, 2010 |