Prime Minister of Japan

Emblem of the Prime Minister of Japan

Standard of the Prime Minister of Japan

The **prime minister of Japan** (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: *Naikaku Sōri-Daijin*) is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence Forces and is a sitting member of either house of the National Diet (typically the House of Representatives). The individual is appointed by the emperor of Japan after being nominated by the National Diet (the parliament). The prime minister must retain the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office.

The prime minister lives and works at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Nagatacho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, close to the National Diet Building. Fumio Kishida is the current prime minister of Japan, replacing Yoshihide Suga on 4 October 2021. As of 18 January 2024, there have been 64 individual prime ministers serving 101 terms of office.

## Designation

### Abbreviations

In Japanese, due to the special nature of the work of the head of government, the prime minister's titles vary depending on context, sometimes demonstrating his/her role. Since the inception of the cabinet system, the prime minister is known in Japanese as *Naikaku Sōri-Daijin* (内閣総理大臣) whenever he is referred to as the head of the Cabinet. However, this title is usually abbreviated to *Sōri-Daijin* (総理大臣). Other abbreviations include *Sōri* (総理), *Shushō* (首相) or even *Saishō* (宰相).

### English notation

The official English rendering is 'Prime Minister'. This English translation was informally used as the English translation of 'Grand Minister' before the introduction of the cabinet system. However, this was not the original English translation of 'Prime Minister', and a German translation, 'Minister President of the State', was also used in the past.

## History

Before the adoption of the Meiji Constitution, Japan had in practice no written constitution. Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system known as *ritsuryō* was enacted in the late Asuka period and early Nara period. It described a government based on an elaborate and rational meritocratic bureaucracy, serving, in theory, under the ultimate authority of the emperor; although in practice, real power was often held elsewhere, such as in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, who intermarried with the imperial family in the Heian period, or by the ruling *shōgun*. Theoretically, the last *ritsuryō* code, the Yōrō Code enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of the Meiji Restoration.

Under this system, the *Daijō-daijin* (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm) was the head of the *Daijō-kan* (Department of State), the highest organ of Japan's pre-modern Imperial government during the Heian period and until briefly under the Meiji Constitution with the appointment of Sanjō Sanetomi in 1871. The office was replaced in 1885 with the appointment of Itō Hirobumi to the new position of Minister President of State, four years before the enactment of the Meiji Constitution, which mentions neither the Cabinet nor the position of Prime Minister explicitly. It took its current form with the adoption of the Constitution of Japan in 1947.

To date, 64 people have served this position. The longest serving prime minister to date is Shinzo Abe, who served as prime minister in two terms: from 26 September 2006 until 26 September 2007, and from 26 December 2012 until 16 September 2020.

## Appointment

The prime minister is nominated by both houses of the Diet, before the conduct of any other business. For that purpose, each conducts a ballot under the run-off system. If the two houses choose different individuals, then a joint committee of both houses is appointed to agree on a common nominee. Ultimately, however, if the two houses do not agree within ten days, the decision of the House of Representatives is deemed to be that of the Diet. Therefore, the House of Representatives can theoretically ensure the appointment of any prime minister it wants. The nominee is then presented with his or her commission, and formally appointed to office by the emperor.

Conventionally, the prime minister is almost always the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives, or the leader of the senior partner in the governing coalition. But there have been three cabinet prime ministers from junior coalition partners (Ashida 1948, Hosokawa 1993, Murayama 1994), a few minority governments (most recently the Hata Cabinet in 1994 and at least numerically the Second Hashimoto Cabinet of 1996 during its first year, but with an extra-cabinet cooperation (閣外協力, *kakugai kyōryoku*) agreement with two parties, sufficient to ensure safe majorities for most government initiatives), and several cabinets with a majority in the House of Representatives, but without legislative majority of their own (most recently the DPJ-led cabinets after the 2010 election; cf. *Nejire Kokkai*/"twisted Diets").

## Qualifications

* Must be a member of either house of the Diet. (This implies a minimum age of 25 and a Japanese nationality requirement.)
* Must be a civilian. This excludes serving members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Former military persons may be appointed, with Yasuhiro Nakasone being one prominent example.

## Role

### Constitutional roles

* Exercises "control and supervision" over the entire executive branch.
* Presents bills to the Diet on behalf of the Cabinet.
* Signs laws and Cabinet orders (along with other members of the Cabinet).
* Appoints all Cabinet ministers, and can dismiss them at any time.
* May permit legal action to be taken against Cabinet ministers.
* Must make reports on domestic and foreign relations to the Diet.
* Must report to the Diet upon demand to provide answers or explanations.
* May advise the emperor to dissolve the Diet's House of Representatives.

### Statutory roles

* Presides over meetings of the Cabinet.
* Commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
* May override a court injunction against an administrative act upon showing of cause.

Unlike most of his counterparts in constitutional monarchies, the prime minister is both *de jure* and *de facto* chief executive. In most other constitutional monarchies, the monarch is nominal chief executive, while being bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In contrast, the Constitution of Japan explicitly vests executive power in the Cabinet, of which the prime minister is the leader. His countersignature is required for all laws and Cabinet orders. While most ministers in parliamentary democracies have some freedom of action within the bounds of cabinet collective responsibility, the Japanese Cabinet is effectively an extension of the prime minister's authority.

## See also

* List of prime ministers of Japan
* List of spouses of prime ministers of Japan