Fumio Kishida

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Fumio Kishida
岸田 文雄
File:Fumio Kishida May 2017 (cropped).jpg
Kishida in May 2017
100th Prime Minister of Japan
Taking office
4 October 2021
Monarch Naruhito
Succeeding Yoshihide Suga
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
Assumed office
29 September 2021
Vice President Tarō Asō
Secretary-General Akira Amari
Preceded by Yoshihide Suga
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
26 December 2012 – 3 August 2017
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Preceded by Kōichirō Genba
Succeeded by Tarō Kōno
Minister of Defense
In office
28 July 2017 – 3 August 2017
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Preceded by Tomomi Inada
Succeeded by Itsunori Onodera
Previous ministry posts
Minister of State for Okinawa and the Northern Territories
In office
27 August 2007 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by Sanae Takaichi
Succeeded by Motoo Hayashi
Minister of State for Space
In office
6 February 2008 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by Office created
Succeeded by Seiko Noda
Minister of State for Consumers
In office
18 June 2008 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by Office created
Succeeded by Seiko Noda
Minister of State for Regulatory Reform
In office
27 August 2007 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by Yoshimi Watanabe
Succeeded by Kaoru Yosano
Minister of State for Science, Technology and Quality of Life
In office
27 August 2007 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by Office created
Succeeded by Seiko Noda
Member of the House of Representatives
for Hiroshima 1st District[lower-alpha 1]
Assumed office
18 July 1993
Preceded by Tadatoshi Akiba
Personal details
Born (1957-07-29) 29 July 1957 (age 66)
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic Party
Education Kaisei Academy
Alma mater Waseda University (LLB)

Fumio Kishida (岸田 文雄 Kishida Fumio?, born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician serving as the President of the Liberal Democratic Party since 2021. A member of the House of Representatives, he previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and as the Chairman of the Policy Research Council of the LDP from 2017 to 2020. He won the 2021 LDP leadership election,[1] and it is expected that he will be elected to succeed Yoshihide Suga as Prime Minister by the Diet on 4 October 2021.

Early life and education

Kishida was born to a political family in Shibuya, Tokyo, on 29 July 1957.[2][3][4] His father and grandfather were former politicians who were lower house members, and also, former prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa is a distant relative of his.[4] He went to elementary school in the Queens borough of New York City because his father was posted to a job in the U.S. at the time.[5]

Kishida studied law at Waseda University and graduated in 1982.[3] At Waseda, he was friends with future politician Takeshi Iwaya.[6]

Political career

After working at now-defunct Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan and then as a secretary to a member of the House of Representatives, Kishida was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1993 general election, representing the Hiroshima 1st district.[7]

Kishida served as Minister of Okinawa Affairs from 2007 to 2008, firstly in the Abe Cabinet and later in the Fukuda cabinet.[8] He was appointed state minister in charge of consumer affairs and food safety in the cabinet of then prime minister Yasuo Fukuda in 2008.[4] Kishida was also state minister in charge of science and technology in the Fukuda cabinet.[8]

He was close to Makoto Koga, leader of the Kōchikai faction, one of the oldest inside the LDP, and assumed control of it in October 2012 after Makoto Koga announced his retirement from politics.[4]

Abe government

Kishida in 2013
File:Secretary Tillerson, Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida, and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Pose for a Photo Before Their Trilateral Meeting in Bonn (32897966296).jpg
Kishida with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, February 2017

Following the LDP's victory in the 2012 general election, Kishida was named foreign minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on 26 December 2012.[7][9] He became the longest-serving foreign minister in postwar history, unseating Abe's father Shintaro Abe.[10] He helped to arrange U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima in May 2016, and gained attention in 2017 when he appeared alongside comedian Piko Taro to promote a UN program.[6]

He was not in favor of the appointment of Toshihiro Nikai as LDP secretary-general by Abe in 2016 against the wishes of Kishida's own faction, which was seen as an attempt at blocking generational change inside the LDP.[11]

In 2017, Kishida left the Cabinet to take over the chairmanship of the LDP Policy Research Council, a position traditionally seen as a stepping stone to leadership of the party.[12] He sought this position in order to improve his chances to succeed Abe, as the foreign minister post had relatively little influence within the party.[10]

Kishida considered running in the 2018 LDP presidential election, but he was persuaded by Abe not to run, with a suggestion that Abe would later support Kishida as his successor. By mid-2020, several senior LDP lawmakers had shifted their support from Kishida to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso was quoted as saying "Kishida is for peacetime, not for troubled times."[13] One factor in this shift was an unsuccessful proposal by Kishida to provide a 300,000 yen stimulus payment to households during the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] After Suga won the 2020 LDP presidential election and became Prime Minister, Kishida was not offered a position in the Suga cabinet, although his faction obtained two cabinet seats.[15]

Prime Minister-designate

On 29 September 2021, Kishida defeated Taro Kono in a runoff vote to become the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and replaced outgoing party leader Yoshihide Suga. He received a total of 257 votes, from 249 parliament members and eight rank-and-file members, to become Japan's next Prime Minister.[16]

Policy views

Kishida is seen as dovish on foreign policy and lukewarm about revising the pacifist constitution.[17][18] Following the political philosophy of his own faction, Kishida has pledged a “humane diplomacy” based on the Peace Constitution, the Japan-U.S. alliance, and the Self-Defense Forces and that he will seek to strengthen Japan-U.S. relations and to promote the free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy while counterbalancing Chinese political assertiveness and military presence in the region.[18]

Regarding Chinese influence over Taiwan and Hong Kong, Kishida has stated that the Taiwan Strait may be the “next major diplomatic problem” following “China’s clampdown on Hong Kong” and that Japan should seek more cooperation with Taiwan.[19]

Despite being the leader of the moderate Kōchikai faction,[18][20] Kishida like many other LDP members of parliament is affiliated to the parliamentary league of the ultra-conservative organization Nippon Kaigi.[21]

During the 2021 LDP presidential race he called for Japan to strive for a new form of capitalism to reduce income disparity saying neo-liberalism and deregulation have widened economic gaps in society.[22]

Kishida is in favor of retaining nuclear power technology, which he says should be considered as a clean energy option, while also calling for the setting up of $90.7 billion university fund to further stimulate science and promotion of renewable energy.[22]

Being a representative from Hiroshima, Kishida has consistently advocated for Japanese diplomacy to promote nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).[18]

He stated support for discussions toward allowing married Japanese couples to choose between unified single surnames or separate last names.[23]

In 2017, while serving as foreign minister, Kishida pressured China to pressure North Korea in regards of denuclearization.[24] During the race for the leadership of the LDP, Kishida also addressed the issue of Japanese abductees by North Korea and supported a summit between Japan and North Korea to end the issue.[25] Also, Kishida took a stronger stance than other contenders regarding China and North Korea and said that Japan should strengthen its defenses at the same time of recognizing that there is a clash between authoritarianism and democracy in the region, especially in regards of the status of Taiwan.[26]

Personal life

Both Kishida's grandfather, Masaki Kishida, and his father, Fumitake Kishida, were members of the House of Representatives, and his cousin is former Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa.[27]

Honours

Notes

  1. ↑ Between 1947 to 1996, Kishida's constituency was a multi-member district elected through SNTV. After the 1994 Japanese electoral reform, mandating the abolition of all multi-member House of Represetative district, Hosakawa was re-elected to the synonymous Hiroshima 1st District, which was a single-member constituency elected through FPTP, in 1996 general election. The two constituencies are fundamentally different from each other, only with their identical name.

References

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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ "Abe's reshuffle promotes right-wingers" (Korea Joongang Daily - 2014/09/05)
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Decoraties Staatsbezoeken Japan en Republiek Korea Archived 4 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine - website of the Dutch Royal House

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
2012–2017		 Succeeded by
Tarō Kōno
Preceded by Minister of Defense
Acting
2017		 Succeeded by
Itsunori Onodera
Preceded by Prime Minister of Japan
Designated
2021–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by President of the Liberal Democratic Party
2021–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by Head of Kōchikai faction
2012–present		 Incumbent
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