List of prime ministers of Japan


This is a list of prime ministers of Japan, including those of the Empire of Japan, from when the first Japanese prime minister, Itō Hirobumi, took office in 1885, until the present day. The office is currently held by Shinzō Abe. Those prime ministers under the Meiji Constitution had a mandate from the Emperor. The "electoral mandates" shown are for the lower house of the Imperial Diet that was not constitutionally guaranteed to have any influence on the appointment of the Prime Minister.

Daijō-kan

The office of Daijō-daijin was the equivalent of what would become the office of Prime Minister. It was an ancient role which had been discontinued in the 18th century and briefly revived under the Meiji constitution.

Daijō-daijin

The office of Daijō-daijin was abolished in December 1885 with the appointment of Itō Hirobumi in the new position of Prime Minister.

List of prime ministers

Timeline

Rank by length of total tenures

RankPrime MinisterPartyStart of 1st
Administration		TermsDays
1Shinzō AbeLDP20064
2Katsura Tarō-190132883
3Eisaku SatōLDP196432797
4Itō Hirobumi-188542716
5Shigeru YoshidaLiberal/DLP/Liberal194652614
6Junichirō KoizumiLDP200131979
7Yasuhiro NakasoneLDP198231805
8Hayato IkedaLDP196031574
9Saionji KinmochiRikken Seiyūkai190621398
10Nobusuke KishiLDP195721240
11Yamagata Aritomo-188921208
12Hara TakashiRikken Seiyūkai191811132
13Ōkuma ShigenobuKenseitō189821038
14Fumimaro KonoeNone/IRAA193731033
15Hideki TojoIRAA194111008
16Matsukata Masayoshi-18912941
17Ryūtarō HashimotoLDP19962931
18Kakuei TanakaLDP19722885
19Zenkō SuzukiLDP19801863
20Toshiki KaifuLDP19892817
21Tanaka GiichiRikken Seiyūkai19271804
22Saitō MakotoMilitary19321773
23Ichirō HatoyamaJDP/LDP19543744

The table includes only PMs who have cumulatively served two years or more. A fully detailed list is available at List of Japanese prime ministers by longevity.

Living former prime ministers

As of , ten former prime ministers of Japan are still alive. The most recent death of a former prime minister was that of Yasuhiro Nakasone on 29 November 2019. Shinzō Abe, who served from 2006 to 2007, returned to the office since 2012 and is the current incumbent, excluding him from this list.
NumberNameTenureDate of birthAgeImage
1Tomiichi Murayama1994–1996
2Toshiki Kaifu1989–1991
3Yasuo Fukuda2007–2008
4Yoshirō Mori2000–2001
5Morihiro Hosokawa1993–1994
6Tarō Asō2008–2009
7Junichiro Koizumi2001–2006
8Naoto Kan2010–2011
9Yukio Hatoyama2009–2010
10Yoshihiko Noda2011–2012

Relations between Japanese prime ministers

  1. Nobusuke Kishi and Eisaku Satō: brothers
  2. Nobusuke Kishi and Shinzō Abe: grandfather and grandson
  3. Eisaku Satō and Shinzō Abe: great-uncle and great-nephew
  4. Takeo Fukuda and Yasuo Fukuda: father and son
  5. Ichirō Hatoyama and Yukio Hatoyama: grandfather and grandson
  6. Prince Fumimaro Konoe and Morihiro Hosokawa: grandfather and grandson
  7. Shigeru Yoshida and Tarō Asō: grandfather and grandson
  8. Zenkō Suzuki and Tarō Asō: father-in-law and son-in-law