Shigeru Ishiba

His Excellency Shigeru Ishiba
石破 茂
Official portrait, 2024
Prime Minister of Japan
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2024
Monarch	Naruhito
Preceded by	Fumio Kishida
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 September 2024
Vice President	Yoshihide Suga
Secretary-General	Hiroshi Moriyama
Preceded by	Fumio Kishida
Ministerial offices Minister in charge of Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy In office 3 September 2014 – 3 August 2016 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Kozo Yamamoto Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries In office 24 September 2008 – 16 September 2009 Prime Minister Tarō Asō Preceded by Seiichi Ota Nobutaka Machimura (acting) Succeeded by Hirotaka Akamatsu Minister of Defense In office 26 September 2007 – 2 August 2008 Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Preceded by Masahiko Kōmura Succeeded by Yoshimasa Hayashi Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency In office 30 September 2002 – 27 September 2004 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Preceded by Gen Nakatani Succeeded by Yoshinori Ohno Deputy Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency In office 6 January 2001 – 26 April 2001 Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Kyogon Hagiyama Parliamentary Secretary for Defense In office 6 December 2000 – 6 January 2001 Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori Preceded by Seiji Nakamura Masataka Suzuki Succeeded by Office abolished Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries In office 4 July 2000 – 5 December 2000 Serving with Issui Miura Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori Preceded by Yoshio Yatsu Katsutoshi Kaneda Succeeded by Toshikatsu Matsuoka Naoki Tanaka In office 26 December 1992 – 21 June 1993 Serving with Ryōtarō Sudo Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa Preceded by Koji Futada Takao Jinnouchi Succeeded by Takehiko Endo
Party political offices Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party In office 26 September 2012 – 3 September 2014 President Shinzo Abe Preceded by Nobuteru Ishihara Succeeded by Sadakazu Tanigaki Chairperson of the Policy Research Council In office 29 September 2009 – 30 September 2011 President Sadakazu Tanigaki Preceded by Kosuke Hori Succeeded by Toshimitsu Motegi
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 July 1986
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Constituency	Tottori at-large district (1986–1996) Tottori 1st district (1996–present)
Majority	85,456 (68.2%)
Personal details
Born	(1957-02-04) 4 February 1957 (age 67) Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic (1986–1993; 1997–present)
Other political affiliations	Japan Renewal Party (1993–1994) New Frontier Party (1994–1996) Independent (1996–1997)
Spouse	Yoshiko Nakamura ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	2
Parent	Jirō Ishiba (father)
Education	Keio Senior High School
Alma mater	Keio University (LLB)
Signature
Website	Official website
YouTube information
Channel	【公式】石破茂
Years active	2010–present
Genre	Politics
Subscribers	25,600[1]
Total views	2,087,899[1]
Last updated: November 1, 2024

This article is part of a series about Shigeru Ishiba
Representative for Tottori 1st district (1986–present) Ministerial career Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency (2002–2004) Minister of Defense (2007–2008) Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2008–2009) Minister of State for Regional Revitalisation (2014–2016) Leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party 2024 leadership election Premiership Cabinet First Second International trips Elections 2024 general election
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Shigeru Ishiba (Japanese: 石破 茂, Hepburn: Ishiba Shigeru, born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician serving as prime minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1986 and has served as Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2008 to 2009, as well as being the Secretary-General of the LDP from 2012 to 2014.

Ishiba was born into a political family, with his father, Jirō Ishiba, serving as governor of Tottori Prefecture from 1958 to 1974 before later becoming the Minister for Home Affairs. After graduating from Keio University, Ishiba worked at a bank before entering politics after his father's death. Ishiba was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1986 general election as a member of the LDP at the age of 29.

As a Diet member, Ishiba specialized in agricultural policy and defense policy. He served as parliamentary vice minister of agriculture under the premiership of Kiichi Miyazawa but left the LDP in 1993 to join the Japan Renewal Party. After transitioning through several parties and returning to the LDP in 1997, Ishiba held various prominent positions, including Director-General of the Defense Agency under the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, Minister of Defense under the premiership of Yasuo Fukuda and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under the premiership of Tarō Asō.

Ishiba became a key figure within the LDP, running for party leadership multiple times. First in 2008 where he placed fifth, and notably against Shinzo Abe in the 2012 and 2018 elections. Despite his criticisms of LDP factionalism, he established his own faction, Suigetsukai, in 2015, aiming for leadership. After Abe's second resignation, Ishiba ran in 2020 but placed third behind Yoshihide Suga. Ishiba declined to run and endorsed Taro Kono in the 2021 election which was won by Fumio Kishida. After Kishida announced that he would step down in 2024, Ishiba ran for the fifth and final time in the LDP presidential election where he defeated Sanae Takaichi in a second round run-off, becoming the new party leader and prime minister–designate, and was formally elected Prime Minister by the National Diet on 1 October 2024.^[2] As prime minister, Ishiba almost immediately announced a snap general election, where the ruling LDP coalition lost its majority for the first time since 2009 and suffering its second-worst result in party history.

Ishiba has developed a reputation as a political maverick due to his willingness to criticize his party, as well as his relatively liberal stances on social issues; he supported a motion of no-confidence against the Miyazawa Cabinet in 1993 and criticized Abe throughout his second premiership, despite serving in the governments of both prime ministers.^[3]