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 Fumio Kishida.

List of ministers

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

#	Image	Name	Took office	Left office
1		Inoue Kaoru	1885	1887
–		Itō Hirobumi	1887	1888
2		Ōkuma Shigenobu (1st)	1888	1889
3		Aoki Shūzō (1st)	1889	1891
4		Enomoto Takeaki	1891	1892
5		Mutsu Munemitsu	1892	1896
6		Saionji Kinmochi (1st)	1896	1896
2		Ōkuma Shigenobu (2nd)	1896	1897
7	90px	Nishi Tokujirō	1897	1898
2		Ōkuma Shigenobu (3rd)	1898	1898
3		Aoki Shūzō (2nd)	1898	1900
8	90px	Katō Takaaki (1st)	1900	1901
9	90px	Sone Arasuke	1901	1901
10		Komura Jutarō (1st)	1901	1906
8	90px	Katō Takaaki (2nd)	1906	1906
6		Saionji Kinmochi (2nd)	1906	1906
11	90px	Hayashi Tadasu	1906	1908
12	90px	Terauchi Masatake (1st)	1908	1908
10		Komura Jutarō (2nd)	1908	1911
13		Uchida Kosai (1st)	1911	1912
14		Katsura Tarō	1912	1913
8	90px	Katō Takaaki (2nd)	1913	1913
15		Makino Nobuaki	1913	1914
8	90px	Katō Takaaki (3rd)	1914	1915
2		Ōkuma Shigenobu (4th)	1915	1915
16		Ishii Kikujirō	1915	1916
12	90px	Terauchi Masatake (2nd)	1916	1916
17		Motono Ichirō	1916	1918
18		Gotō Shinpei	1918	1918
13		Uchida Kosai (2nd)	1918	1923
19		Yamamoto Gonnohyōe	1923	1923
20		Ijuin Hikokichi	1923	1924
21		Matsui Keishirō	1924	1924
22		Kijūrō Shidehara (1st)	1924	1927
23		Tanaka Giichi	1927	1929
22		Kijūrō Shidehara (2nd)	1929	1931
24		Inukai Tsuyoshi	1931	1932
25		Kenkichi Yoshizawa	1932	1932
26		Saitō Makoto	1932	1932
13		Uchida Kosai (3rd)	1932	1933
27		Kōki Hirota (1st)	1933	1936
28		Hachirō Arita (1st)	1936	1937
29		Senjuro Hayashi	1937	1937
30		Naotake Satō	1937	1937
27		Kōki Hirota (2nd)	1937	1938
31		Kazushige Ugaki	1938	1938
32		Fumimaro Konoe	1938	1938
28		Hachirō Arita (2nd)	1938	1939
33		Nobuyuki Abe	1939	1939
34	90px	Kichisaburō Nomura	1939	1940
28		Hachirō Arita (3rd)	1940	1940
35		Yōsuke Matsuoka	1940	1941
36		Teijirō Toyoda	1941	1941
37		Shigenori Tōgō (1st)	1941	1942
38		Hideki Tōjō	1942	1942
39		Masayuki Tani	1942	1943
40		Mamoru Shigemitsu (1st)	1943	1945
41		Kantarō Suzuki	1945	1945
37		Shigenori Tōgō (2nd)	1945	1945
40		Mamoru Shigemitsu (2nd)	1945	1945
43		Shigeru Yoshida (1st)	1945	1947
–		Tetsu Katayama	1947	1947
44		Hitoshi Ashida	1947	1948
43		Shigeru Yoshida (2nd)	1948	1952
45		Katsuo Okazaki	1952	1954
40		Mamoru Shigemitsu (3rd)	1954	1956
–		Tanzan Ishibashi	1956	1956
46		Nobusuke Kishi	1956	1957
47		Aiichiro Fujiyama	1957	1960
48		Zentaro Kosaka (1st)	1960	1962
49		Masayoshi Ōhira (1st)	1962	1964
50		Shiina Etsusaburo	1964	1966
51	90px	Takeo Miki	1966	1968
–		Eisaku Satō	1968	1968
52		Kiichi Aichi	1968	1971
53		Takeo Fukuda	1971	1972
49		Masayoshi Ōhira (2nd)	1972	1974
54		Toshio Kimura	1974	1974
55		Kiichi Miyazawa	1974	1976
48		Zentaro Kosaka (2nd)	1976	1976
56		Iichirō Hatoyama	1976	1977
57		Sunao Sonoda (1st)	1977	1979
58		Saburo Okita	1979	1980
59		Masayoshi Ito	1980	1981
57		Sunao Sonoda (2nd)	1981	1981
60		Yoshio Sakurauchi	1981	1982
61		Shintaro Abe	1982	1986
62		Tadashi Kuranari	1986	1987
63		Sōsuke Uno	1987	1989
64		Hiroshi Mitsuzuka	1989	1989
65		Taro Nakayama	1989	1991
66		Michio Watanabe	1991	1993
67		Kabun Muto	1993	1993
68		Tsutomu Hata	1993	1994
69		Koji Kakizawa	1994	1994
70		Yohei Kono (1st)	1994	1996
71		Yukihiko Ikeda	1996	1997
72		Keizō Obuchi	1997	1998
73		Masahiko Kōmura (1st)	1998	1999
70		Yohei Kono (2nd)	1999	2001
74		Makiko Tanaka	2001	2002
75		Junichiro Koizumi	2002	2002
76		Yoriko Kawaguchi	2002	2004
77		Nobutaka Machimura (1st)	2004	2005
78		Tarō Asō	2005	2007
77		Nobutaka Machimura (2nd)	2007	2007
73		Masahiko Kōmura (2nd)	2007	2008
79		Hirofumi Nakasone	2008	2009
80		Katsuya Okada	2009	2010
81		Seiji Maehara	2010	2011
–		Yukio Edano (acting)	2011	2011
82		Takeaki Matsumoto	2011	2011
83		Kōichirō Genba	2011	2012
84		Fumio Kishida	2012	Present

See also

• Foreign minister
• Foreign policy of Japan

External links

• Minister's Profile at Ministry of Foreign Affairs website