On October 1, 2024, the cabinet resigned in a body.[1]
Background
After Fumio Kishida called for a general election and won a supermajority on 31 October 2021, he was re-elected as the prime minister at a special session of the National Diet on 10 November 2021. As his first cabinet only served 37 days, the shortest term in history, Kishida reappointed nearly all of the ministers from the previous cabinet following re-election.[2][3]
On 10 August 2022, the cabinet was reshuffled. 7 MPs with ties to the Unification Church (UC) were dismissed following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and increasing media scrutiny of LDP officials' close ties with the church.[4][5] On 20 August it was reported that 23 officials including 8 MPs in the new reshuffled cabinet have existing connections to the UC.[6][7][8]
Controversies between Abe and the Unification Church
The reshuffle was widely reported as a response to the local criticism of ties between Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Unification Church (UC), following the assassination of the former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on 8 July 2022.[9][10] The suspected shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, revealed that his mother went bankrupt for donating most of the family's wealth and assets to the UC. Although the suspect originally planned to target the leader of the UC, Hak Ja Han, he switched to Abe because he was unable to approach Han, and he considered Abe as one of the most influential supporters of the UC.[11] The revelation renewed local interest in the allegedly long-standing relationship between the LDP and the UC since Abe's maternal grandfather Nobusuke Kishi's tenure,[12] as well as accusations against the UC's practices of collecting donations fraudulently, so-called "spiritual sales".[13] Public opinions on Kishida's decision to hold a state funeral for Abe on 27 September were also divided.[14][15]
According to a poll conducted by NHK from 5 to 7 August, the approval rating of Kishida's previous cabinet was 46%, down by 13% from a similar poll taken three weeks prior. Also 82% of respondents were not satisfied by the lawmakers' explanations of their ties to the UC.[16]
Kishida's responses regarding the Unification Church
Kishida stressed that the new cabinet would have all members closely examined with regard to their relationship with the UC,[9] but media reported that at least 30 members in the reshuffled cabinet were still related to the UC to various degrees.[17] One of the ministers who remained in office after this reshuffle, Daishiro Yamagiwa, received media scrutiny in particular for not disclosing his ties with the UC to the public before the reshuffle, as well as his ambiguous responses when being confronted by reporters about his ties to the UC.[18] Kishida accepted Yamagiwa's resignation on 24 October 2022 as the minister[19] following more evidences of Yamagiwa's ties to the UC surfaced and intense criticisms from the opposition parties in the parliament for his failure to remember his participation in events held by the UC and meetings with top UC officials, including the UC leader Hak Ja Han.[20]
After the cabinet reshuffle, a poll conducted from 20 to 21 August by Mainichi Shimbun showed that the approval rating of the new cabinet dropped to 36% by 16%, with 64% of respondents viewing the ties to the UC as a very serious problem.[21]
Kishida promised to cut ties with the UC[22] and help victims of manipulative sales by the UC.[23]Taro Kono, the minister of digital affairs who was also given the special mission for consumer affairs and food safety, established a spiritual sales review committee in the Consumer Affairs Agency on 29 August. This committee initially elected 8 experts in the UC matter including former prosecutor Shiori Kanno and Masaki Kito, a lawyer representing the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales which has been providing legal aid for victims and reporting on the anti-social issues of the UC since 1987.[24] The committee was scheduled to hold publicly-viewable weekly online meetings. All committee members offered suggestions for strengthening regulations or enacting preventive measures against spiritual sales.[25]
As of 2023, Kishida has led four cabinets since the beginning of his premiership in October 2021. His first cabinet lasted just 38 days, and was formed following the resignation of former Prime Minister Yoshide Suga's cabinet. After receiving a mandate in the 2021 general election, Kishida formed his second cabinet in November 2021. He reshuffled it twice, the first time being in August 2022 in the wake of the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, and the second in September 2023. The second reshuffle includes more women, while also keeping potential political rivals in key roles and positions.[28] In total, eleven first time appointees were introduced in the cabinet.[29]
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Minister in charge of Industrial Competitiveness Minister for Economic Cooperation with Russia Minister in charge of the Response to the Economic Impact caused by the Nuclear Accident Minister of State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation
Minister for Reconstruction Minister in charge of Comprehensive Policy Coordination for Revival from the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of Building National Resilience Minister in charge of Territorial Issues Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform Minister of State for Disaster Management and Ocean Policy
Minister of State for Regional Revitalization Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate Minister of State for Gender Equality Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment Minister in charge of Policies Related to Children Minister in charge of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation
Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Minister in charge of New Capitalism Minister in charge of Measures for Novel Coronavirus Disease and Health Crisis Management Minister in charge of Social Security Reform Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
Minister for the World Expo 2025 Minister in charge of Digital Garden City Nation Vision Minister in charge of Cohesive Society Minister in charge of Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Minister of State for "Cool Japan" Strategy Minister of State for the Intellectual Property Strategy
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Minister in charge of Industrial Competitiveness Minister for Economic Cooperation with Russia Minister in charge of the Response to the Economic Impact caused by the Nuclear Accident Minister of State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation
Minister for Digital Transformation Minister of State for Digital Reform Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform
Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of Building National Resilience Minister in charge of Territorial Issues Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform Minister of State for Disaster Management and Ocean Policy
Minister in charge of Policies Related to Children Minister in charge of Cohesive Society Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment Minister in charge of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate Minister of State for Gender Equality
Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Minister in charge of New Capitalism Minister in charge of Startups Minister in charge of Measures for Novel Coronavirus Disease and Health Crisis Management Minister in charge of Social Security Reform
Minister in charge of Economic Security Minister of State for Intellectual Property Strategy Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Minister of State for Space Policy Minister of State for Economic Security
Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Minister of State for Regional Revitalization Minister of State for Regulatory Reform Minister of State for "Cool Japan" Strategy Minister of State for Ainu-Related Policies Minister in charge of Digital Garden City Nation Vision Minister for the World Expo 2025 Minister in charge of Administrative Reform
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Minister in charge of the Response to the Economic Impact caused by the Nuclear Accident Minister for Green Transformation Minister in charge of Industrial Competitiveness Minister for Economic Cooperation with Russia Minister of State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation
Minister for Digital Transformation Minister in charge of Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reforms Minister in charge of Digital Garden City Nation Vision Minister in charge of Administrative Reform Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform Minister of State for Regulatory Reform
Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister in charge of Building National Resilience Minister in charge of Territorial Issues Minister of State for Disaster Management and Ocean Policy
Minister of State for Policies Related to Children Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate Minister of State for Youth's Empowerment Minister of State for Gender Equality Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment Minister in charge of Cohesive Society Minister in charge of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation
Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Minister in charge of New Capitalism Minister in charge of Startups Minister in charge of Infectious Disease Crisis Management Minister in charge of Social Security Reform Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
Minister in charge of Economic Security Minister of State for "Cool Japan" Strategy Minister of State for Intellectual Property Strategy Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Minister of State for Space Policy Minister of State for Economic Security
Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Minister of State for Regional Revitalization Minister of State for Ainu-Related Policies Minister for the World Expo 2025
^"List of Ministers". The Cabinet of Japan Prime Minister. 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.