Cabinet of Japan


The Cabinet of Japan is the executive branch of the government of Japan. It consists of the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Emperor after being designated by the National Diet, and up to nineteen other members, called Ministers of State. The Prime Minister is designated by the Diet, and the remaining ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Diet and must resign if a motion of no confidence is adopted by the Diet.

Appointment

Under the constitution, Cabinet ministers are appointed after the selection of the Prime Minister. A majority of the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, must be members of the Diet, and all members must be civilians. Under the Cabinet Law, the number of Cabinet Ministers must be fourteen or less, but this may be increased to nineteen if a special need arises. In the event that the Cabinet collectively resigns it continues to exercise its functions until the appointment of a new Prime Minister. While they are in office, legal action may not be taken against Cabinet ministers without the consent of the Prime Minister. The Cabinet must resign en masse in the following circumstances:
The Cabinet exercises two kinds of power. Some of its powers are nominally exercised by the Emperor with the binding "advice and approval" of the Cabinet. Other powers are explicitly vested in the Cabinet. Contrary to the practice in many constitutional monarchies, the Emperor is not even the nominal Chief Executive. Instead, the Constitution explicitly vests executive authority in the Cabinet. Hence, nearly all of the day-to-day work of governing is done by the Cabinet.
In practice, much of the Cabinet's authority is exercised by the Prime Minister. Under the Constitution, the Prime Minister exercises "control and supervision" over the executive branch, and no law or Cabinet order can take effect without the Prime Minister's countersignature. While Cabinet Ministers in most other parliamentary democracies theoretically have some freedom of action, the Japanese Cabinet is effectively an extension of the Prime Minister's authority.

Powers exercised via the Emperor

The members of the current cabinet of Japan headed by the Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shinzō Abe as of 11 September 2019 are as follows:
OfficeIncumbentSeatCabinet appointment
Prime MinisterShinzō AbeHouse of Representatives, LDPLeader of majority party
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Finance
Minister of State for Financial Services
Minister in charge of Overcoming Deflation		Tarō AsōHouse of Representatives, LDPRetained
Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
Minister of State for the Social Security and Tax Number System		Sanae TakaichiHouse of Representatives, LDPReappointed
Minister of JusticeMasako MoriHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister for Foreign AffairsToshimitsu MotegiHouse of Representatives, LDPShuffled
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Minister in charge of Education Rebuilding		Kōichi HagiudaHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare
Minister in charge of Working-style Reform		Katsunobu KatōHouse of Representatives, LDPReappointed
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and FisheriesTaku EtōHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Minister in charge of Industrial Competitiveness
Minister in charge of International Exposition
Minister of State for Economic Cooperation with Russia
Minister in charge of the Response to the Economic Impact caused by the Nuclear Accident
Minister of State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation		Hiroshi KajiyamaHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Minister in charge of Water Cycle Policy		Kazuyoshi AkabaHouse of Representatives, KomeitoNew appointment
Minister of the Environment
Minister of State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness		Shinjirō KoizumiHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of DefenseTarō KōnoHouse of Representatives, LDPShuffled
Chief Cabinet Secretary
Minister in charge of Mitigating the Impact of U.S. Forces in Okinawa
Minister in charge of the Abductions Issue		Yoshihide SugaHouse of Representatives, LDPRetained
Minister for Reconstruction
Minister in charge of Comprehensive Policy Coordination for Revival from the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima		Kazunori TanakaHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission
Minister in charge of Administrative Reform
Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform
Minister in charge of Building National Resilience
Minister of State for Disaster Management		Ryota TakedaHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister for Promoting Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens
Minister in charge of Territorial Issues
Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety
Minister of State for Measures for the Declining Birthrate
Minister of State for Ocean Policy		Seiichi EtoHouse of Councilors, LDPNew appointment
Minister in charge of Information Technology Policy
Minister of State for "Cool Japan" Strategy
Minister of State for the Intellectual Property Strategy
Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy
Minister of State for Space Policy		Naokazu TakemotoHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
Minister in charge of Social Security Reform
Minister in charge of TPP and Japan-U.S. Trade Negotiations		Yasutoshi NishimuraHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of State for Regional Revitalization
Minister of State for Regulatory Reform		Seigo KitamuraHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment
Minister of State for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games
Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment
Minister of State for Gender Equality		Seiko HashimotoHouse of Representatives, LDPNew appointment