The , or , is a member of the Japanese cabinet and is the leader of the Ministry of Defense, the executive department of the Japanese Armed Forces. The minister of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the

Prime Minister of Japan The 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-Defense Force ...

, who is the commander-in-chief. The minister of defense is appointed by the Prime Minister and is a member of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

. The current Minister of Defense is Gen Nakatani, who took office on October 1, 2024.

History

On 26 December 2007, the

Government of Japan The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive (government), executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary st ...

made the decision to reform its Defense Agency to the Ministry of Defense in the expectation to have a far-reaching effect on Japan's future military development. The defense policy that has been pursued by Japan is based on the "Basic Policy for National Defense", which was adopted by the Cabinet in May 1957. Japan's main goal of national defense is the prevention of indirect as well as direct aggression from outside enemies. The Japanese government reformed the Defense Agency to the Ministry of Defense with a ceremony that was attended by then Prime Minister

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...

and the then-new Minister of Defense Fumio Kyuma. The creation of the Ministry of Defense was in conjunction with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's continued efforts to ensure a stronger image of the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense ...

(JSDF). The bill in which to upgrade the Defense Agency to the Ministry of Defense was approved by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

(lower house) in November 2006, and the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

(upper house) in mid-December 2006. Minister Kyuma personally attended a session in the House of Councillors and gave a speech after the bill was approved. On 11 September 2019, Taro Kono became the first high profile 'prime minister-ready' politician to head the Ministry of Defense. He has the strongest LDP factional backing of any defense minister thus far. His social media following is second only to Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

. He's a leading candidate for post-Abe premiership. Kono previously held the prominent role of foreign minister.

Chain of command

*1. Prime Minister *2. Minister of Defense *3. Chief of Staff, Joint Staff

Structure

The Commander-in-Chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), who does not formally constitute a uniformed military, is the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The

Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...

is a

constitutional monarch Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

who does not have political or military authority over the JSDF; that authority rests with the Prime Minister. However, it is important to note that the Emperor formally appoints the Prime Minister to office. The Minister of Defense is responsible for the organization and formulating the national security policy. The budget request is drafted by the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

and making its own legislative proposals to the

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. The Minister of Defense is advised on every concern related to the duties of the

by the

Chief of Staff, Joint Staff The , formerly known as the Chairman of the Joint Staff Council from 1954 to 2006, is the highest-ranking military officer and head of the overall Operational Authority (through Joint Staff Office) over the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and ...

List of ministers of defense (2007–present)

Allied occupation of Japan

Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF, full or Nippon-gun () for short, meaning "Japanese Forces") were the unified forces of the Empire of Japan. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rul ...

were disbanded and US forces took control. From 1950 to 1952, the National Police Reserve led by

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

Takeo Ōhashi was formed. It was renamed as the National Safety Force in 1952. In 1952, the Coastal Safety Force, the waterborne counterpart of the National Police Reserve, was founded and led by the Tokutarō Kimura.

Directors general of the Defense Agency

These are the directors general of the Defense Agency. It is the predecessor of the Ministry of Defense which was established on 9 January 2007. * Tokutarō Kimura 1954 * Seiichi Ōmura 1954-1955 * Arata Sugihara 1955 * Shigemasa Sunada 1955 * Funada Naka 1955-1956 *

Tanzan Ishibashi was a Japanese journalist and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1956 to 1957. Born in Tokyo, Ishibashi became a journalist after graduating from Waseda University in 1907. In 1911, he joined the ''Tōyō Keizai Shimpo'' ("Ea ...

1956-1957 *

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...

1957 * Akira Kodaki 1957 * Juichi Tsushima 1957-1958 * Gisen Satō 1958-1959 * Shigejirō Inō 1959 * Munenori Akagi 1959-1960 * Masumi Esaki 1960 * Naomi Nishimura 1960 * Sensuke Fujieda 1961-1962 * Kenjirō Shiga 1962-1963 * Fukuda Tokuyasu 1963-1964 * Jun'ya Koizumi 1964-1965 * Raizo Matsuno 1965-1966 * Eikichi Kanbayashiyama 1966 * Kaneshichi Masuda 1966-1968 * Kiichi Arita 1968-1970 *

Yasuhiro Nakasone was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies and pursuing a hawkish and pro-U.S. fo ...

1970-1971 * Keiichi Masuhara 1971 * Naomi Nishimura 1971 * Ezaki Masumi 1971-1972 * Keiichi Masuhara 1972-1973 * Yamanaka Yasunori 1973-1974 * Sōsuke Uno 1974 * Michita Sakata 1974-1976 * Asao Mihara 1976-1977 * Shin Kanemaru 1977-1978 * Ganri Yamashita 1978-1979 * Enji Kubota 1979-1980 * Yoshizo Hosoda 1980 * Koji Omura 1980-1981 * Soichiro Ito 1981-1982 * Kazuho Tanigawa 1982-1983 * Kurihara Yoshiyuki 1983-1984 * Koichi Kato 1984-1986 * Kurihara Yoshiyuki 1986-1987 * Riki Kawara 1987-1988 *

Kichirō Tazawa was a Japanese politician. He held different cabinet posts and served as defense minister from 1988 to 1989. Early life Tazawa was born in 1918. He was a native of Inakadate, Aomori Prefecture. Career Tazawa was a member of the Liberal Demo ...

1988-1989 * Taku Yamasaki 1989 * Jūrō Matsumoto 1989-1990 * Yozo Ishikawa 1990 * Yukihiko Ikeda 1990-1991 * Sohei Miyashita 1991-1992 * Toshio Nakayama 1992-1993 * Nakanishi Keisuke 1993 * Kazuo Aichi 1993-1994 * Atsushi Kanda 1994 * Tokuichiro Tamazawa 1994-1995 * Seishirō Etō 1995-1996 *

Hideo Usui is a retired Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many count ...

1996 * Fumio Kyūma 1996-1998 *

Fukushiro Nukaga is a Japanese politician who is serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Japan), Speaker of the House of Representatives since October 2023. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party, he has been a ...

1998 * Hosei Norota 1998-1999 * Riki Kawara 1999-2000 * Kazuo Torashima 2000 * Toshitsugu Saito 2000-2001 * Gen Nakatani 2001-2002 *

Shigeru Ishiba Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2024. He has been a member of ...

2002-2004 * Yoshinori Ohno 2004-2005 *

2005-2006 * Fumio Kyūma 2006-2007

Ministers with military experience

Although Article 68 of the Constitution states that all members of the Cabinet must be

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

s, former military persons may be appointed Minister of Defense. * Raizo Matsuno - served in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

during World War II and rose to rank of Lieutenant commander *

- served in the

during World War II and rose to rank of Lieutenant commander and worked as Paymaster * Sōsuke Uno - served in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during World War II and rose to rank of Second Lieutenant * Soichiro Ito - served in the

during World War II and rose to rank of Second Lieutenant * Shin Kanemaru - served briefly in the

Kwantung Army The Kwantung Army (Japanese language, Japanese: 関東軍, ''Kantō-gun'') was a Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army, general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945. The Kwantung Army was formed in 1906 as a security force for th ...

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in 1937-1938 and was discharged due to illness * Satoshi Morimoto - served in

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the Aerial warfare, air and space warfare, space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and ...

and rose to rank as

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

* Gen Nakatani - served in

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct ...

as platoon leader and instructor with rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

References

* "Library of Congress Country Studies", JAPAN, The Defense Agency

Retrieved 18 July 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Minister of Defense (Japan) 2007 establishments in Japan Ministries established in 2007 * Politics of Japan fr:Ministère japonais de la Défense