Fumio Kishida

Fumio Kishida
Fumio Kishida
岸田文雄
	Official portrait, 2021
Prime Minister of Japan
	In office; 4 October 2021 – 1 October 2024
Monarch	Naruhito
Preceded by	Yoshihide Suga
Succeeded by	Shigeru Ishiba
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
	In office; 29 September 2021 – 27 September 2024
Vice President	Tarō Asō
Secretary-General	Akira Amari; Toshimitsu Motegi;
Preceded by	Yoshihide Suga
Succeeded by	Shigeru Ishiba
Prime Minister
Ministerial offices
Minister for Foreign Affairs
	Acting; 4 November 2021 – 10 November 2021
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Toshimitsu Motegi
Succeeded by	Yoshimasa Hayashi
	In office; 26 December 2012 – 3 August 2017
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Preceded by	Kōichirō Genba
Succeeded by	Tarō Kōno
Minister of Defense
	Acting; 28 July 2017 – 3 August 2017
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Preceded by	Tomomi Inada
Succeeded by	Itsunori Onodera
Minister of State for Consumers
	In office; 18 June 2008 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister	Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Seiko Noda
Minister of State for Space
	In office; 6 February 2008 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister	Yasuo Fukuda
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Seiko Noda
Minister of State for Okinawa and the Northern Territories
	In office; 27 August 2007 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe; Yasuo Fukuda;
Preceded by	Sanae Takaichi
Succeeded by	Motoo Hayashi
Minister of State for Regulatory Reform
	In office; 27 August 2007 – 1 August 2008
Prime Minister	Shinzo 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	Shinzo Abe; Yasuo Fukuda;
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Seiko Noda
Member of the House of Representatives; for Hiroshima's 1st district;
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 20 October 1996
Preceded by	Constituency established
Majority	117,800 (71.1%)
	In office; 18 July 1993 – 27 September 1996
Constituency	Former 1st district; (Elect Four);
Personal details
Born	29 July 1957 (age 67); Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic
Other political; affiliations	Nippon Kaigi[A]
Spouse	Yuko Wada (m. 1988)
Children	3
Education	Kaisei Academy
Alma mater	Waseda University (LLB)
Signature
Website	Official website; Government website;
	A. ^ The Nippon Kaigi is not a political party but a non-government organization and lobbying group.

Fumio Kishida (岸田文雄, Kishida Fumio, born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet since 1993. Kishida previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and as acting Minister of Defense in 2017. From 2017 to 2020, he also chaired the LDP Policy Research Council.

Born into a political family, Kishida spent part of his childhood in the United States, where he attended elementary school in New York City. After beginning his career in finance, Kishida entered politics and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1993 general election as a member of the LDP. Kishida was appointed to Minister of State for Special Missions in the premiership of Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008, and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2012 after Abe regained the premiership following the 2012 general election, serving for five years and becoming the longest-serving Foreign Affairs Minister in Japanese history. Kishida resigned from the Abe cabinet in 2017 in order to head the LDP's Policy Research Council. Kishida also assumed leadership of the LDP's more moderate Kōchikai faction in 2012 following the retirement of faction leader Makoto Koga, a position he held until his resignation in 2023. Long considered a potential future prime minister, Kishida ran in the 2020 LDP presidential election, but lost to Yoshihide Suga. He ran again for the party leadership in 2021, this time winning in a second round run-off against opponent Taro Kono. Kishida was confirmed as prime minister by the National Diet four days later on 4 October 2021.

Upon assuming office as prime minister, Kishida stated that his administration would pursue a "new model of capitalism" by implementing redistributive policies aimed at raising wages and expanding the middle class. His tenure saw a reversal of decades-long deflationary economic policies, with Japan experiencing its highest wage growth in 30 years, driven by record wage increases achieved through annual wage negotiations. He led the LDP to victory in the 2021 general election and the 2022 House of Councillors election, albeit at a slightly reduced majority. He oversaw the dissolution of the Unification Church (UC) in Japan following the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 and the disbandment of his faction Kōchikai, along with Seiwakai and Shisuikai following a party-wide slush fund corruption scandal. His tenure also saw the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in 2023. He reshuffled his cabinet twice, in August 2022 to remove cabinet members affiliated with the UC and in September 2023 to remove cabinet members associated with the slush fund scandal.

On foreign policy, he continued strengthening the Quad Security Dialogue and close cooperation with NATO in pursuit of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, signed the American–Japanese–Korean trilateral pact in 2023, formed security pacts with the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines, and took steps to repair ties with South Korea. In 2022 he instructed the cabinet to increase Japan's military budget by 65% by 2027, the most significant defense budget increase in decades. Kishida responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by becoming the first Asian country to impose sanctions on Russia and Belarus and authorizing civilian aid to Ukraine. He survived an assassination attempt on 15 April 2023 while delivering a campaign speech.

The end of Kishida's premiership was marked by a struggle to recover from record-low approval ratings amid fallout from the LDP slush fund scandal. On 14 August 2024, Kishida announced that he would step down as LDP party leader, thereby not seeking reelection in September. In the LDP leadership election Kishida initially endorsed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, then in the second round he whipped votes for Shigeru Ishiba who defeated Takaichi Sanae to become the next party leader and prime minister.