Minister of Justice (Japan)

The  is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Justice. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan.

The current minister is Hiroshi Hiraguchi , who took office on 21 October 2025.

 List of ministers of justice 
 1952–2000 

+Justice ministerTerm of officePrime minister#PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeDays1frameless|133x133pxTokutaro KimuraAugust 1, 1952October 30, 1952Shigeru Yoshida2frameless|140x140pxTakeru InukaiOctober 30, 1952April 22, 19543frameless|142x142pxRyogo KatoApril 22, 1954June 19, 19544frameless|133x133pxNaoshi OharaJune 19, 1954December 10, 19545frameless|143x143pxShiro HamamuraDecember 10, 1954November 22, 1955Ichirō Hatoyama6frameless|141x141pxRyozo MakinoNovember 22, 1955December 23, 19567frameless|135x135pxUmekichi NakamuraDecember 23, 1956July 10, 1957Tanzan IshibashiNobusuke Kishi8Toshiki KarasaJuly 10, 1957June 12, 19589Kiichi AichiJune 12, 1958June 18, 195910frameless|116x116pxHiroya InoJune 18, 1959July 19, 1960 11frameless|119x119pxTetsuzo KojimaJuly 19, 1960 December 8, 1960Hayato Ikeda12Koshiro UekiDecember 8, 1960July 18, 196213frameless|124x124pxKunio NakagakiJuly 18, 1962July 18, 196314frameless|124x124pxOkinori KayaJuly 18, 1963July 18, 196415Hitoshi TakahashiJuly 18, 1964June 3, 1965Eisaku Satō16frameless|119x119pxMitsujirō IshiiJune 3, 1965December 3, 196617Isaji TanakaDecember 3, 1966November 25, 196718frameless|121x121pxBunzo AkamaNovember 25, 1967November 30, 196819frameless|166x166pxKichinosuke SaigoNovember 30, 1968January 14, 197020Takeji KobayashiJanuary 14, 1970February 9, 197121Daisuke AkitaFebruary 9, 1971February 17, 197122
(12)Koshiro UekiFebruary 17, 1971July 5, 197123frameless|169x169pxShigesaburō MaeoJuly 5, 1971July 7, 197224Yuichi KoriJuly 7, 1972December 22, 1972Kakuei Tanaka25Isaji TanakaDecember 22, 1972November 25, 197326Umekichi NakamuraNovember 25, 1973November 11, 197427Seigo HamanoNovember 11, 1974December 9, 197428frameless|144x144pxOsamu InabaDecember 9, 1974December 24, 1976Takeo Miki29Hajime FukudaDecember 24, 1976October 5, 1977Takeo Fukuda30frameless|145x145pxMitsuo SetayamaOctober 5, 1977December 7, 197831Yoshimi FuruiDecember 7, 1978November 9, 1979Masayoshi Ōhira32Tadao KuraishiNovember 9, 1979July 17, 198033frameless|145x145pxSeisuke OkunoJuly 17, 1980November 30, 1980Zenkō Suzuki34frameless|145x145pxMichita SakataNovember 30, 1980November 27, 198235Hatano AkiraNovember 27, 1982December 27, 1983Yasuhiro Nakasone36Eisaku SumiDecember 27, 1983November 1, 198437Hitoshi ShimazakiNovember 1, 1984December 28, 198538Seigo SuzukiDecember 28, 1985July 22, 198639Kaname EndoJuly 22, 1986November 6, 198740Yukio HasegawaNovember 6, 1987December 27, 1988Noboru Takeshita41Takashi HasegawaDecember 27, 1998December 30, 199842Masami TakatsujiDecember 30, 1998June 3 198943frameless|133x133pxKazuo TanikawaJune 3 1989August 10, 1989Sōsuke Uno44Masao GotoAugust 10, 1989February 28, 1990Toshiki Kaifu45Shin HasegawaFebruary 28, 1990September 13, 199046frameless|145x145pxSeiroku KajiyamaSeptember 13, 1990December 29, 199047Megumi SatoDecember 29, 1990November 5, 199148Takashi TawaraNovember 5, 1991December 12, 1992Kiichi Miyazawa49frameless|100x100pxMasaharu GotōdaDecember 12, 1992August 9, 199350frameless|133x133pxAkira MikazukiAugust 9, 1993April 28, 1994Morihiro Hosokawa52Nagano ShigetoApril 28, 1994May 8, 1994Tsutomu Hata53frameless|141x141pxHiroshi NakaiMay 8, 1994June 30, 199454Isao MaedaJune 30, 1994August 8, 1995Tomiichi Murayama55Tomoharu TazawaAugust 8, 1995October 8, 199556Hiroshi MiyazawaOctober 8, 1995January 11, 199657Ritsuko NagaoJanuary 11, 1996November 7, 1996Ryutaro Hashimoto58frameless|129x129pxIsao MatsuuraNovember 7, 1996September 11, 199759frameless|138x138pxKokichi ShimoinabaSeptember 11, 1997July 30, 199860frameless|129x129pxShozaburo NakamuraJuly 30, 1998March 8, 1999Keizō Obuchi61frameless|130x130pxTakao JinnouchiMarch 8, 1999October 5, 199962frameless|127x127pxHideo UsuiOctober 5, 1999July 4, 2000Yoshirō Mori63frameless|124x124pxOkiharu YasuokaJuly 4, 2000December 5, 200064frameless|133x133pxMasahiko KomuraDecember 5, 2000January 6, 2001

 2001–present 

Justice ministerTerm of officePrime minister#PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeDays65
(64)100pxMasahiko KōmuraJanuary 6, 2001April 26, 2001Yoshirō Mori66100pxMayumi MoriyamaApril 26, 2001September 22, 2003Junichiro Koizumi67100pxDaizō NozawaSeptember 22, 2003September 27, 200468100pxChieko NōnoSeptember 27, 2004October 31, 200569100pxSeiken SugiuraOctober 31, 2005September 26, 200670100pxJinen NagaseSeptember 26, 2006August 27, 2007Shinzō Abe71100pxKunio HatoyamaAugust 27, 2007August 2, 2008Yasuo Fukuda72100pxOkiharu YasuokaAugust 2, 2008September 24, 200873100pxEisuke MoriSeptember 24, 2008September 16, 2009Taro Aso74100pxKeiko ChibaSeptember 16, 2009September 7, 2010Yukio HatoyamaNaoto Kan75100pxMinoru YanagidaSeptember 7, 2010November 22, 201076100pxYoshito SengokuNovember 22, 2010January 14, 201177100pxSatsuki EdaJanuary 14, 2011September 2, 201178100pxHideo HiraokaSeptember 2, 2011January 13, 2012Yoshihiko Noda79100pxToshio OgawaJanuary 13, 2012June 4, 201216100pxMakoto TakiJune 4, 2012October 1, 201217100pxKeishu TanakaOctober 1, 2012October 23, 201218(16)100pxMakoto TakiOctober 23, 2012December 26, 201219100pxSadakazu TanigakiDecember 26, 2012September 3, 2014Shinzō Abe20100pxMidori MatsushimaSeptember 3, 2014October 20, 201421100pxYōko KamikawaOctober 20, 2014October 7, 201522100pxMitsuhide IwakiOctober 7, 2015August 3, 201623100pxKatsutoshi KanedaAugust 3, 2016August 3, 201724(21)100pxYōko KamikawaAugust 3, 2017October 2, 201825100pxTakashi YamashitaOctober 2, 2018September 11, 201926100pxKatsuyuki KawaiSeptember 11, 2019October 31, 201927100pxMasako MoriOctober 31, 2019September 16, 202028(21)100pxYōko KamikawaSeptember 16, 2020October 4, 2021Yoshihide Suga29100pxYoshihisa FurukawaOctober 4, 202110 August 2022Fumio Kishida30100pxYasuhiro Hanashi10 August 202211 November 202231100pxKen SaitōNovember 11, 2022September 13, 202332100pxRyuji KoizumiSeptember 13, 2023October 1, 202433100pxHideki MakiharaOctober 1, 2024November 11, 2024Shigeru Ishiba34100pxKeisuke SuzukiNovember 11, 2024October 21, 202535100pxHiroshi HiraguchiOctober 21, 2025IncumbentSanae Takaichi

References

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