Year	Prime Minister	Minister of Health and Welfare	Minister of Labour	Background to the Era	Measures, etc.
1998	Mirayama	Ide	Hamamoto	1994 Aging rate exceeds 14%	1994 Pension system reform (review of the Old-Age Employees' Pension for people in their early 60s)1994 Formulation of the Angel Plan1994 Formulation of the New Gold Plan1994 New 10-Year Strategy to overcome Cancer1994 Amendment to the Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons (mandatory 60-year-old retirement age; obliging employers to endeavor to continue employment up to 65 years old)1994 Amendment to the Employment Insurance Act (establishment of continued employment benefit for old age and child-care leave benefit)1994 Act on Advancement of Project for Quality Management of Raw Water1995 Act on Support for the Atomic Bomb Victims1995 Act on the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging1995 Formulation of the Government Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities1995 Amendment to the Mental Health Act (establishment of the system to provide a health and welfare handbook for people with mental disorders; change of the title into the Act on Mental Health and Welfare for the Mentally Disabled)1995 Amendment to the Child Care Leave Act (establishment of family-care leave system; change of the title into the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act)1995 New comprehensive employment measures
Morii	Aoki
Hashimoto (Ryutaro)	Kan	Nagai	Social security reformCurrency crises in Asia	1996 Abolishment of the Leprosy Prevention Act1996 Amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (improvement of measures to ensure drug safety)1997 Amendment to the Waste Management Act (clarification of procedures for establishing facilities; Countermeasures against illegal dumping, etc.)1997 Psychiatric Social Workers Act1997 Amendment to the Child Welfare Act (child care system reform)1997 Amendment to the Health Insurance Act (80% benefits for the insured)1997 Organ Transplantation Act1997 Long-Term Care Insurance Act1997 Amendment to the Act on Equal Employment Opportunity and Treatment between Men and Women (to prohibit discrimination against women)
Koizumi (J)	Okano
Ibuki	1998 Nagano Olympics	1998 Agreement between Japan and Germany on social security signed (Effective on February 1, 2000)1998 Infectious Disease Prevention Act1998 Comprehensive Plans for vitalizing employment
Obuchi	Miyashita	Amari	Sharp rise in total unemployment rate1999 International Year of Older Persons	1999 Emergency employment measures1999 Formulation of the new Angel Plan1999 Amendment to the Psychiatric Social Workers Act (to add home help and short stay services to in-home welfare programs; clarification of requirements for involuntary hospitalization for medical care and protection)2000 Agreement between Japan and United Kingdom on social security signed (Effective on February 1, 2001)2000 Pension system reform (adjustment of total benefit amount growth, etc.)2000 Amendment to the Medical Practitioners Act (clinical training became mandatory)2000 Social Welfare Act2000 Act on the Succession to Labour Contracts2000 Child Abuse Prevention Act2000 Amendment to the Child Allowance Act (extension of benefit period up to before compulsory education)
Mori	Niwa (Y)	Makino
Tsushima	Yoshikawa
Sakaguchi	Sakaguchi	2001 Inauguration of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare	2001 Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act and the Defined Contribution Pension Act2001 Act on Payment of Compensation to Inmates of Hansen's Disease Sanatorium2001 Social security system reform outline2001 Act on Promoting the Resolution of Individual Labour-Related Disputes2001 Amendment to the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act (restriction on overtime work)2001 Comprehensive employment measures2002 Government-Labour-Management Agreement on work sharing2002 Act on Assistance Dogs for Physically Disabled Persons2002 Amendments to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Blood Donation Brokerage Control Act (improvement of post-marketing safety measures; drastic overhaul of the Blood Act)2002 Health Promotion Act2002 Amendment to the Health Insurance Act, etc.2002 Amendment to the Food Sanitation Act (reinforcement of penalty on imported food, etc.)2002 Act on Special Measures concerning Assistance in Self-Support of Homeless2002 Government-Labour-Management Agreement on employment issues2002 Programs to accelerate reforms2002 Government-Labour-Management Agreement on diverse working styles and work sharing
2003	Sakaguchi	2003 Amendment to the Food Sanitation Act, etc. (Review based on the enactment of the Food Safety Basic Act)2003 Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children2003 Amendment to the Child Welfare Act (child rearing support programs stipulated by law)2003 Act on Special Measures concerning Support for Employment of Mothers of Fatherless Household2003 Basic Act for Measures to Cope with Society with Declining Birthrate2003 Act on Medical Care and Treatment for Persons Who Have Caused Serious Cases Under the Condition of Insanity2003 Amendment to the Employment Insurance Act (promotion of early reemployment)2003 New Government Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities2003 Amendment to the Labour Standards Act (development of rules on dismissal, review on terminable contracts and free time systems)2003 Amendment to the Infectious Disease Prevention Act and the Quarantine Act (improvement and reinforcement of measures against infectious diseases)