Chief Cabinet Secretary

The Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan (内閣官房長官, Naikaku-kanbō-chōkan) is a Minister of State who is responsible for directing the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan.[1] The main function of the Chief Cabinet Secretary is to coordinate the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch.[2] The Chief Cabinet Secretary serves as the government's press secretary,[3] conducts policy research,[4] prepares materials to be discussed at cabinet meetings,[5] and, in time of national crisis, coordinates ministries and agencies of the executive branch.[6] The Chief Cabinet Secretary is customarily nominated as the first in line to serve as temporary Acting Prime Minister in case the Prime Minister is unable to serve due to death or other grave reasons until a new Prime Minister is appointed.[7] The Chief Cabinet Secretary's office is located on the fifth floor of the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo.

Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan
内閣官房長官
Naikaku-kanbō-chōkan
Emblem of the Government of Japan
Incumbent
Katsunobu Katō
since 16 September 2020
AppointerThe Prime Minister
Formation3 May 1947

In March 1879, the forerunner of the position, the Cabinet Secretary was created. From 1885, it was included as part of the cabinet system, and the position was known in Japanese as 内閣書記官長 (naikaku-shokikan-chō), literally "Secretary-General of the Cabinet". The modern position was created on May 3, 1947, shortly after the passage of the Constitution of Japan, and elevated to ministerial status in 1966.

Since 1947, the office of Chief Cabinet Secretary has been regarded as a stepping stone to the post of Prime Minister. The first Chief Cabinet Secretary to become Prime Minister was Ichirō Hatoyama, formerly Chief Cabinet Secretary to Tanaka Giichi. Since then, eight other former Chief Cabinet Secretaries have become Prime Ministers, most recently Shinzō Abe, Yasuo Fukuda, and Yoshihide Suga.

Suga, who served under Shinzō Abe for eight years, is the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in history, having overtaken the previous record of 1,289 days in office set by Fukuda on July 7, 2016.[8] Suga was replaced by Katsunobu Katō, who was the outgoing health minister.[9]

The Cabinet Office Building is where the Cabinet Secretariat resides.

List of Secretary-Generals of the Cabinet

Shōwa Era
  • Tsukamoto Kiyoji (December 25, 1926–April 20, 1927)
  • Ichirō Hatoyama (April 20, 1927–July 2, 1929)
  • 6 other holders (July 3, 1929–October 19, 1934)
  • Shigeru Yoshida (October 20, 1934–May 11, 1935) - not to be confused with PM Shigeru Yoshida.
  • 14 other holders (May 12, 1935–April 6, 1945)
  • Hisatsune Sakomizu (7 April 1945–15 August 1945)
  • vacant (August 16, 1945–October 9, 1945)
  • Daizaburō Tsugita (October 9, 1945–January 13, 1946)
  • Wataru Narahashi (January 13, 1946–May 22, 1946)
  • Jyōji Hayashi (May 22, 1946–May 2, 1947)

List of Chief Cabinet Secretaries

Shōwa Era

  Liberal (1945)
  Socialist
  Democratic (1947)
  Democratic Liberal
  Liberal (1950)
  Democratic (1954)
  Liberal Democratic

Chief Cabinet Secretary Term of office Prime Minister
Portrait Name Took Office Left Office Days
Jōji Hayashi May 3, 1947 May 24, 1947 21 Shigeru Yoshida
Suehiro Nishio June 1, 1947 March 10, 1948 283 Tetsu Katayama
Gizō Tomabechi March 10, 1948 October 15, 1948 219 Hitoshi Ashida
Eisaku Satō[n 1] October 17, 1948 February 16, 1949 122 Shigeru Yoshida
Kaneshichi Masuda February 16, 1949 May 6, 1950 444
Katsuo Okazaki May 6, 1950 December 26, 1951 599
Shigeru Hori December 26, 1951 October 30, 1952 309
Taketora Ogata October 30, 1952 May 21, 1953 203
Kenji Fukunaga May 21, 1953 December 10, 1954 568
Ryutarō Nemoto December 10, 1954 November 22, 1955 744 Ichirō Hatoyama
November 22, 1955 December 23, 1956
Hirohide Ishida December 12, 1956 July 10, 1957 210 Tanzan Ishibashi
Nobusuke Kishi
Kiichi Aichi July 10, 1957 June 12, 1958 337
Munenori Akagi June 12, 1958 June 18, 1959 371
Etsusaburō Shiina June 18, 1959 July 19, 1960 397
Masayoshi Ōhira[n 2] July 19, 1960 July 18, 1962 729 Hayato Ikeda
Yasumi Kurogane July 18, 1962 July 18, 1964 731
Zenkō Suzuki[n 3] July 18, 1964 November 9, 1964 114
Tomisaburō Hashimoto November 9, 1964 August 1, 1966 630 Eisaku Satō
Kiichi Aichi August 1, 1966 December 3, 1966 124
Kenji Fukunaga December 3, 1966 June 22, 1967 201
Toshio Kimura June 22, 1967 November 30, 1968 527
Shigeru Hori November 30, 1968 July 5, 1971 947
Noboru Takeshita[n 4] July 5, 1971 July 7, 1972 368
Susumu Nikaidō July 7, 1972 November 11, 1974 857 Kakuei Tanaka
Noboru Takeshita[n 4] November 11, 1974 December 9, 1974 28
Ichitarō Ide December 9, 1974 December 24, 1976 746 Takeo Miki
Sunao Sonoda December 24, 1976 November 28, 1977 339 Takeo Fukuda
Shintaro Abe November 28, 1977 December 7, 1978 374
Rokusuke Tanaka December 7, 1978 November 9, 1979 337 Masayoshi Ōhira
Masayoshi Ito[n 5] November 9, 1979 July 17, 1980 251
Himself (Acting)
Kiichi Miyazawa[n 6] July 17, 1980 November 27, 1982 863 Zenkō Suzuki
Masaharu Gotōda November 27, 1982 December 27, 1983 395 Yasuhiro Nakasone
Takao Fujinami December 27, 1983 December 28, 1985 732
Masaharu Gotōda December 28, 1985 November 6, 1987 678
Keizō Obuchi[n 7] November 6, 1987 January 7, 1989 428 Noboru Takeshita

Heisei Era

  Liberal Democratic
  Japan New Party
  New Party Sakigake
  Japan Renewal Party
  Socialist
  Democratic

Chief Cabinet Secretary Term of office Prime Minister
Portrait Name Took Office Left Office Days
Keizō Obuchi[n 7] January 8, 1989 June 3, 1989 147 Noboru Takeshita
Masajuro Shiokawa June 3, 1989 August 10, 1989 68 Sōsuke Uno
Tokuo Yamashita August 10, 1989 August 26, 1989 16 Toshiki Kaifu
Mayumi Moriyama August 26, 1989 February 28, 1990 186
Misoji Sakamoto February 28, 1990 November 5, 1991 615
Koichi Kato November 5, 1991 December 12, 1992 403 Kiichi Miyazawa
Yōhei Kōno December 12, 1992 August 9, 1993 240
Masayoshi Takemura August 9, 1993 April 28, 1994 262 Morihiro Hosokawa
Hiroshi Kumagai April 28, 1994 June 30, 1994 63 Tsutomu Hata
Kozo Igarashi June 30, 1994 August 8, 1995 404 Tomiichi Murayama
Koken Nosaka August 8, 1995 January 11, 1996 156
Seiroku Kajiyama January 11, 1996 September 11, 1997 609 Ryutaro Hashimoto
Kanezo Muraoka September 11, 1997 July 30, 1998 322
Hiromu Nonaka July 30, 1998 October 10, 1999 432 Keizo Obuchi
Mikio Aoki October 10, 1999 July 4, 2000 273
Yoshiro Mori
Hidenao Nakagawa July 4, 2000 October 27, 2000 115
Yasuo Fukuda[n 8] October 27, 2000 May 7, 2004 1380
Junichiro Koizumi
Hiroyuki Hosoda May 7, 2004 October 31, 2005 450
Shinzō Abe[n 9] October 31, 2005 September 26, 2006 330
Yasuhisa Shiozaki September 26, 2006 August 27, 2007 335 Shinzō Abe
Kaoru Yosano August 27, 2007 September 26, 2007 30
Nobutaka Machimura September 26, 2007 September 24, 2008 364 Yasuo Fukuda
Takeo Kawamura September 24, 2008 September 16, 2009 357 Taro Aso
Hirofumi Hirano September 16, 2009 June 8, 2010 265 Yukio Hatoyama
Yoshito Sengoku June 8, 2010 January 4, 2011 210 Naoto Kan
Yukio Edano January 4, 2011 September 2, 2011 241
Osamu Fujimura September 2, 2011 December 26, 2012 481 Yoshihiko Noda
Yoshihide Suga December 26, 2012 April 30, 2019 2316 Shinzō Abe

Reiwa Era

  Liberal Democratic

Chief Cabinet Secretary Term of office Prime Minister
Portrait Name Took Office Left Office Days
Yoshihide Suga May 1, 2019 September 16, 2020 504 Shinzō Abe
Katsunobu Katō September 16, 2020 Incumbent 137 Yoshihide Suga

See also

Notes
  1. Later served as Prime Minister 1964-72
  2. Later served as Prime Minister 1978-80
  3. Later served as Prime Minister 1980-82
  4. Later served as Prime Minister 1987-89
  5. Served as Acting Prime Minister on the death of Ōhira, 12 June - 17 July 1980
  6. Later served as Prime Minister 1991-93
  7. Later served as Prime Minister 1998-2000
  8. Later served as Prime Minister 2007-08.
  9. Later served as Prime Minister 2006-07, 2012-present.

References
Footnotes
  1. Cabinet Act, Article 13.
  2. Cabinet Act, Article 12, Paragraph 2, Item 4 and 5
  3. Cabinet Act, Article 17
  4. Cabinet Act, Article 12, Paragraph 2, Item 6
  5. Cabinet Act, Article 12, Paragraph 2, Item 1
  6. Cabinet Act, Article 15
  7. Cabinet Act, Article 9
  8. "Government strongman Suga set to become Japan's longest-serving chief Cabinet secretary". Japan Times. Jiji Press. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  9. Sugiyama, Satoshi (2020-09-16). "Suga takes the reins as Japan's new prime minister, replacing Abe". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
Notes


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