Who’s In Charge? Japan’s Prime Ministers in the Twenty-First Century

The Liberal Democratic Party has continued to dominate Japanese politics in the twenty-first century, as it did through the second half of the twentieth, and has provided most of the country’s leaders through this time. The two longest-serving prime ministers of the century so far are Koizumi Jun’ichirō, who took on the role for over five years from April 2001, and Abe Shinzō, who led the country for a year after succeeding Koizumi, resigned due to poor health, and then came back to head the government for nearly eight years from December 2012. Abe is Japan’s longest-serving prime minister ever. In October 2025, Takaichi Sanae made history by becoming Japan’s first female prime minister.

Abe Shinzō speaks in an interview at the Kantei (prime minister’s office) on September 16, 2020. (© Jiji)

As of October 2025, there have been nine LDP prime ministers this century (Abe Shinzō appears twice in the list below) and three from the Democratic Party of Japan, which held power from September 2009 until December 2012.

Japan’s Prime Ministers in the Twenty-First Century

• Takaichi Sanae (LDP; incumbent, October 2025–)
• Ishiba Shigeru (LDP; 386 days, October 2024–October 2025)
• Kishida Fumio (LDP; 1,094 days, October 2021–October 2024)
• Suga Yoshihide (LDP; 384 days, September 2020–October 2021)
• Abe Shinzō (LDP; 2,822 days, December 2012–September 2020)
• Noda Yoshihiko (DPJ; 482 days, September 2011–December 2012)
• Kan Naoto (DPJ; 452 days, June 2010–September 2011)
• Hatoyama Yukio (DPJ; 266 days, September 2009–June 2010)
• Asō Tarō (LDP; 358 days, September 2008–September 2009)
• Fukuda Yasuo (LDP; 365 days, September 2007–September 2008)
• Abe Shinzō (LDP; 366 days, September 2006–September 2007)
• Koizumi Jun’ichirō (LDP; 1,980 days, April 2001–September 2006)
• Mori Yoshirō (LDP; 387 days, April 2000–April 2001)

(Originally published in English. Banner photo: Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae makes a statement while meeting with families of North Korean abduction victims at the Kantei in Tokyo on October 23, 2025. © Jiji.)