Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (外務大臣, Gaimu Daijin) of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on external relations. The recent efforts of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to establish a more interventionist foreign policy have also heightened the importance of the position.

The position is currently held by Tarō Kōno.

List of ministers

Italics indicates subject served as Acting Foreign Minister.
Bold indicates subject served concurrently as Prime Minister for a period of time.

Empire of Japan (1885–1945)

#	Name	Took office	Left office
1	Count Inoue Kaoru	December 1885	September 1887
–	Count Itō Hirobumi	September 1887	February 1888
2	Count Ōkuma Shigenobu (1st)	February 1888	December 1889
3	Viscount Aoki Shūzō (1st)	December 1889	May 1891
4	Viscount Enomoto Takeaki	May 1891	August 1892
5	Viscount Mutsu Munemitsu	August 1892	May 1896
6	Marquis Saionji Kinmochi (1st)	May 1896	September 1896
2	Count Ōkuma Shigenobu (2nd)	September 1896	November 1897
7	Baron Nishi Tokujirō	November 1897	January 1898
2	Count Ōkuma Shigenobu (3rd)	January 1898	June 1898
3	Viscount Aoki Shūzō (2nd)	June 1898	October 1900
8	Katō Takaaki (1st)	October 1900	June 1901
9	Sone Arasuke	June 1901	September 1901
10	Baron Komura Jutarō (1st)	September 1901	January 1906
8	Katō Takaaki (2nd)	January 1906	March 1906
6	Marquis Saionji Kinmochi (2nd)	March 1906	May 1906
11	Count Hayashi Tadasu	May 1906	July 1908
12	General Viscount Terauchi Masatake (1st)	July 1908	August 1908
10	Marquis Komura Jutarō (2nd)	August 1908	August 1911
13	Viscount Uchida Kosai (1st)	August 1911	December 1912
14	Prince Katsura Tarō	December 1912	January 1913
8	Baron Katō Takaaki (3rd)	January 1913	February 1913
15	Baron Makino Nobuaki	February 1913	April 1914
8	Baron Katō Takaaki (4th)	April 1914	August 1915
2	Count Ōkuma Shigenobu (4th)	August 1915	October 1915
16	Viscount Ishii Kikujirō	October 1915	October 1916
12	Marshal Count Terauchi Masatake (2nd)	October 1916	November 1916
17	Viscount Motono Ichirō	November 1916	April 1918
18	Baron Gotō Shinpei	April 1918	September 1918
13	Count Uchida Kosai (2nd)	September 1918	2 September 1923
19	Admiral Count Yamamoto Gonnohyōe	2 September 1923	19 September 1923
20	Baron Ijuin Hikokichi	September 1923	January 1924
21	Baron Matsui Keishirō	January 1924	June 1924
22	Baron Kijūrō Shidehara (1st)	June 1924	April 1927
23	Baron Tanaka Giichi	April 1927	July 1929
22	Baron Kijūrō Shidehara (2nd)	July 1929	December 1931
24	Inukai Tsuyoshi	December 1931	January 1932
25	Kenkichi Yoshizawa	January 1932	May 1932
26	Admiral Viscount Saitō Makoto	May 1932	July 1932
13	Count Uchida Kosai (3rd)	July 1932	September 1933
27	Kōki Hirota (1st)	September 1933	March 1936
28	Hachirō Arita (1st)	March 1936	February 1937
29	Senjuro Hayashi	February 1937	March 1937
30	Naotake Satō	March 1937	June 1937
27	Kōki Hirota (2nd)	June 1937	May 1938
31	General Kazushige Ugaki	May 1938	September 1938
32	Prince Fumimaro Konoe	September 1938	October 1938
28	Hachirō Arita (2nd)	October 1938	January 1939
33	General Nobuyuki Abe	January 1939	August 1939
34	Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura	August 1939	January 1940
28	Hachirō Arita (3rd)	January 1940	July 1940
35	Yōsuke Matsuoka	July 1940	July 1941
36	Admiral Teijirō Toyoda	July 1941	October 1941
37	Shigenori Tōgō (1st)	October 1941	September 1942
38	General Hideki Tōjō	1 September 1942	17 1942
39	Masayuki Tani	September 1942	April 1943
40	Mamoru Shigemitsu (1st)	April 1943	April 1945
41	Admiral Baron Kantarō Suzuki	April 1945	April 1945
37	Shigenori Tōgō (2nd)	April 1945	August 1945
40	Mamoru Shigemitsu (2nd)	August 1945	September 1945

Postwar Japan (1945–present)

  Liberal (1945)
  Imperial Family
  Progressive
  Socialist
  Democratic (1947)
  Democratic Liberal
  Liberal (1950)
  Democratic (1954)
  Liberal Democratic
  Japan Renewal Party
  Japan New Party
  Liberal League
  Democratic

Foreign Minister			Term of office			Prime Minister
#	Portrait	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Days	Prime Minister
43		Shigeru Yoshida	September 15, 1945	May 24, 1947	616		Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni
							Kijūrō Shidehara
							Shigeru Yoshida
-		Tetsu Katayama	May 24, 1947	June 1, 1947	8		Tetsu Katayama
44		Hitoshi Ashida	June 1, 1947	October 15, 1948	502		Tetsu Katayama
44		Hitoshi Ashida	June 1, 1947	October 15, 1948	502		Hitoshi Ashida
(43)		Shigeru Yoshida	October 15, 1948	April 30, 1952	1293		Shigeru Yoshida
(43)		Shigeru Yoshida	October 15, 1948	April 30, 1952	1293
45		Katsuo Okazaki	April 30, 1952	December 10, 1954	954
(40)		Mamoru Shigemitsu	December 10, 1954	November 22, 1955	744		Ichirō Hatoyama
(40)		Mamoru Shigemitsu	November 22, 1955	December 23, 1956	744		Ichirō Hatoyama
-		Tanzan Ishibashi	December 23, 1956	December 23, 1956	0		Tanzan Ishibashi
46		Nobusuke Kishi	December 23, 1956	July 10, 1957	199		Tanzan Ishibashi
46		Nobusuke Kishi	December 23, 1956	July 10, 1957	199		Nobusuke Kishi
47		Aiichirō Fujiyama	July 10, 1957	July 19, 1960	1105		Nobusuke Kishi
48		Zentaro Kosaka	July 19, 1960	July 18, 1962	729		Hayato Ikeda
49		Masayoshi Ōhira	July 18, 1962	July 18, 1964	731
50		Shiina Etsusaburo	July 18, 1964	December 3, 1966	868
50		Shiina Etsusaburo	July 18, 1964	December 3, 1966	868		Eisaku Sato
51		Takeo Miki	December 3, 1966	October 29, 1968	696
-		Eisaku Sato	October 29, 1968	November 30, 1968	32
52		Kiichi Aichi	November 30, 1968	July 9, 1971	951
53		Takeo Fukuda	July 9, 1971	July 7, 1972	364
(49)		Masayoshi Ōhira	July 7, 1972	July 16, 1974	739		Kakuei Tanaka
54		Toshio Kimura	July 16, 1974	December 9, 1974	146		Kakuei Tanaka
55		Kiichi Miyazawa	December 9, 1974	September 5, 1976	646		Takeo Miki
(48)		Zentaro Kosaka	September 5, 1976	December 24, 1976	100		Takeo Miki
56		Iichirō Hatoyama	December 24, 1976	November 28, 1977	339		Takeo Fukuda
57		Sunao Sonoda	November 28, 1977	November 8, 1979	710		Takeo Fukuda
57		Sunao Sonoda	November 28, 1977	November 8, 1979	710		Masayoshi Ōhira
58		Saburō Ōkita	November 8, 1979	July 17, 1980	252		Masayoshi Ōhira
59		Masayoshi Ito	July 17, 1980	May 18, 1981	305		Zenkō Suzuki
(57)		Sunao Sonoda	May 18, 1981	November 30, 1981	196
60		Yoshio Sakurauchi	November 30, 1981	November 27, 1982	362
61		Shintaro Abe	November 27, 1982	July 22, 1986	1333		Yasuhiro Nakasone
62		Tadashi Kuranari	July 22, 1986	November 6, 1987	472		Yasuhiro Nakasone
63		Sosuke Uno	November 6, 1987	June 3, 1989	575		Noboru Takeshita
64		Hiroshi Mitsuzuka	June 3, 1989	August 10, 1989	68		Sosuke Uno
65		Taro Nakayama	August 10, 1989	November 5, 1991	817		Toshiki Kaifu
66		Michio Watanabe	November 5, 1991	April 7, 1993	519		Kiichi Miyazawa
67		Kabun Muto	April 7, 1993	August 9, 1993	124		Kiichi Miyazawa
68		Tsutomu Hata	August 9, 1993	April 28, 1994	262		Morihiro Hosokawa
69		Koji Kakizawa	April 28, 1994	June 30, 1994	63		Tsutomu Hata
70		Yōhei Kōno	June 30, 1994	January 11, 1996	560		Tomiichi Murayama
71		Yukihiko Ikeda	January 11, 1996	September 11, 1997	609		Ryutaro Hashimoto
72		Keizo Obuchi	September 11, 1997	July 30, 1998	322		Ryutaro Hashimoto
73		Masahiko Kōmura	July 30, 1998	October 5, 1999	432		Keizo Obuchi
(70)		Yōhei Kōno	October 5, 1999	April 26, 2001	569		Keizo Obuchi
(70)		Yōhei Kōno	October 5, 1999	April 26, 2001	569		Yoshiro Mori
74		Makiko Tanaka	April 26, 2001	January 29, 2002	278		Junichiro Koizumi
75		Junichiro Koizumi	January 29, 2002	February 1, 2002	3
76		Yoriko Kawaguchi	February 1, 2002	September 27, 2004	969
77		Nobutaka Machimura	September 27, 2004	October 31, 2005	399
78		Tarō Asō	October 31, 2005	August 27, 2007	665
78		Tarō Asō	October 31, 2005	August 27, 2007	665		Shinzō Abe
(77)		Nobutaka Machimura	August 27, 2007	September 26, 2007	30		Shinzō Abe
(73)		Masahiko Kōmura	September 26, 2007	September 24, 2008	364		Yasuo Fukuda
79		Hirofumi Nakasone	September 24, 2008	September 16, 2009	357		Taro Aso
80		Katsuya Okada	September 16, 2009	September 17, 2010	366		Yukio Hatoyama
80		Katsuya Okada	September 16, 2009	September 17, 2010	366		Naoto Kan
81		Seiji Maehara	September 17, 2010	March 7, 2011	171
–		Yukio Edano (Acting)	March 7, 2011	March 9, 2011	2
82		Takeaki Matsumoto	March 9, 2011	September 2, 2011	177
83		Kōichirō Genba	September 2, 2011	December 26, 2012	481		Yoshihiko Noda
84		Fumio Kishida	December 26, 2012	August 3, 2017	1681		Shinzō Abe
85		Tarō Kōno	August 3, 2017	Incumbent	435		Shinzō Abe

References

External links

Minister's Profile at Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

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