Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yōko Among Five Women in New Kishida Cabinet

On September 13, 2023, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio announced his new cabinet, which includes 5 women among the 19 total positions, equaling the previous record. Kamikawa Yōko, who served as minister of justice at the time of the Aum Shinrikyō executions, takes over as minister for foreign affairs. There are 11 ministers taking on cabinet posts for the first time, but key members like Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu and Minister of Finance Suzuki Shun’ichi remain in place.

The full list of cabinet members is as follows. Ages are as of September 13, 2023.

Prime Minister

Kishida Fumio (66), LDP, House of Representatives (Hiroshima)

Minister of internal affairs and communications (first cabinet post)

Suzuki Junji (65), LDP, House of Representatives (Aichi)

Minister of justice (first cabinet post)

Koizumi Ryūji (70), LDP, House of Representatives (Saitama)

Minister for foreign affairs

Kamikawa Yōko (70), LDP, House of Representatives (Shizuoka)

Minister of finance, minister of state for financial services (unchanged)

Suzuki Shun’ichi (70), LDP, House of Representatives (Iwate)

Minister of education, culture, sports, science, and technology (first cabinet post)

Moriyama Masahito (69), LDP, House of Representatives (proportional representation)

Minister of health, labor, and welfare (first cabinet post)

Takemi Keizō (71), LDP, House of Councillors (Tokyo)

Minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (first cabinet post)

Miyashita Ichirō (65), LDP, House of Representatives (Nagano)

Minister of economy, trade, and industry (unchanged)

Nishimura Yasutoshi (60), LDP, House of Representatives (Hyōgo)

Minister of land, infrastructure, transport, and tourism (unchanged)

Saitō Tetsuo (71), Kōmeitō, House of Representatives (proportional representation)

Minister of the environment (first cabinet post)

Itō Shintarō (70), LDP, House of Representatives (Miyagi)

Minister of defense (first cabinet post)

Kihara Minoru (54), LDP, House of Representatives (Kumamoto)

Chief cabinet secretary, minister in charge of the abduction issue (unchanged)

Matsuno Hirokazu (61), LDP, House of Representatives (Chiba)

Minister for digital transformation (unchanged)

Kōno Tarō (60), LDP, House of Representatives (Kanagawa)

Minister for reconstruction (first cabinet post)

Tsuchiya Shinako (71), LDP, House of Representatives (Saitama)

Chair of the National Public Safety Commission (first cabinet post)

Matsumura Yoshifumi (59), LDP, House of Councillors (Kumamoto)

Minister of state for regional revitalization (first cabinet post)

Jimi Hanako (47), LDP, House of Councillors (proportional representation)

Minister for economic revitalization

Shindō Yoshitaka (65), LDP, House of Representatives (Saitama)

Minister for economic security (unchanged)

Takaichi Sanae (62), LDP, House of Representatives (Nara)

Minister of children’s policy (first cabinet post)

Katō Ayuko (44), LDP, House of Representatives (Yamagata)

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, at front center, poses for a commemorative photo with the members of his new cabinet at the Kantei in Tokyo on September 13, 2023. © Jiji.)