Fumio Kishida

is a Japanese politician. Kishida was the Prime Minister of Japan from 4 October 2021 until 1 October 2024. In September 2021, he was elected President of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan from 2012 to 2017 during the Shinzo Abe government. Kishida was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993. 

In August 2024, following poor polling numbers, Kishida announced that he would not run for reelection in September for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership.

Early life
Kishida was born in Shibuya, Tokyo on 29 July 1957. He spent his early years in New York City.

Kishida studied law at Waseda University and graduated in 1982. 

Political career
He is a member of the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 1993. He is a member of the far-right organization Nippon Kaigi. He served in Yasuo Fukuda's cabinet as minister of state for Okinawa and northern territories affairs, science and technology policy, quality-of-life policy, and regulatory Reform. He became the longest-serving foreign minister in postwar history, unseating Abe's father Shintaro Abe. In 2017, for a short time he was the Minister of Defense.

Leadership campaigns
Kishida thought about running in the 2018 LDP presidential election; but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked him into not to run and promised to support him as his replacement in the future. He ran in the 2020 LDP presidential election; however lost to Yoshihide Suga who was very popular among LDP politicians.

Prime Minister
In August 2020, he announced his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic leadership election to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He lost the election on 14 September to Yoshihide Suga, coming in second place. In August 2021, he announced his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic leadership again in the 2021 election. He won the leadership election on 29 September 2021.

Kishida officially became the 100th Prime Minister on 4 October 2021 after being elected by the National Diet. He set the date of the 2021 election for 31 October shortly before taking office. During the general election, the Liberal Democratic party lost fifteen seats in the House of Representatives; however still won the majority of seats.

In March 2023, Kishida visted Ukraine during the Russian invasion of the country. This made Kishida the first Japanese prime minister to visit a battlefield since the end of World War II.

On 15 April 2023, a man threw an explosive device at Kishida during a campaign event in Wakayama in an assassination attempt. The device exploded after a short delay during which Kishida was removed from the scene unharmed. The event took place nine months after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated.

His cabinet and time as prime minister is very unpopular with the public. Polling and approval numbers have shown that Kishida is the most unpopular prime minister since the LDP's return to power in 2012. In early November 2023, a Jiji Press survey showed his cabinet's approval rating falling to 21.3%, the lowest since Tarō Asō in 2008. It further fell to 17.1% in December.

On 13 August 2024, Kishida announced that he would step down as LDP party leader and not run for reelection, in September. A reason for his decision was because of his negative approval numbers after the 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal became known. On 27 September 2024, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba was elected as his replacement.

Personal life
Kishida is married to Yuko Kishida and has two children. 

References

Other websites

 Official Website 
 MOFA Official Website (in English)
 Twitter 
 Instagram 
 YouTube 

Category:1957 births
Category:Living people
Category:Prime ministers of Japan
Category:Politicians from Hiroshima
Category:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
Category:Foreign ministers of Japan
Category:Defense ministers of Japan
*