List of Prime Ministers of Japan: Names & Facts

Japan has one of the oldest continuous monarchies in the world, but its parliamentary system is much younger than many people realize. The position of Prime Minister did not even exist until 1885, right in the middle of the Meiji Restoration. Before that, the country was run by feudal shoguns and, before them, by emperors with varying degrees of power. When the Meiji leaders finally decided to create a modern cabinet system, they looked to Western models. What they built has evolved dramatically over the last 140 years, surviving wars, economic booms, corruption scandals, and natural disasters.

If you are a student of political science, a traveler trying to understand Japanese news, or just someone curious about how a modern nation picks its leader, this list is for you. This guide walks you through every single Prime Minister, from the very first in 1885 to the current leader, and breaks down the eras, the parties, and the wild stories behind the names. It is not just a dry list of dates. It is a story of how a nation changed its course, adapted to the world, and sometimes stumbled badly along the way.

The Complete List of Prime Ministers of Japan (1885 to Present)

Below is the full list of prime ministers of japan. This table includes every official holder of the office, the dates of their terms, and their political affiliation at the time. You will notice that the early years were dominated by a handful of powerful men who cycled in and out of office. That was not a coincidence. The Meiji oligarchs, the men who engineered Japan’s rise as a modern power, basically passed the top job around among themselves for the first few decades.

No.	Name	Term Start	Term End	Party
1	Itō Hirobumi	22 Dec 1885	30 Apr 1888	Independent (Meiji oligarchy)
2	Kuroda Kiyotaka	30 Apr 1888	25 Oct 1889	Military (Army)
3	Sanjō Sanetomi (caretaker)	25 Oct 1889	24 Dec 1889	Independent
4	Yamagata Aritomo	24 Dec 1889	6 May 1891	Military (Army)
5	Matsukata Masayoshi	6 May 1891	8 Aug 1892	Independent (Meiji oligarchy)
6	Itō Hirobumi	8 Aug 1892	31 Aug 1896	Independent (Meiji oligarchy)
7	Matsukata Masayoshi	18 Sep 1896	12 Jan 1898	Independent (Meiji oligarchy)
8	Itō Hirobumi	12 Jan 1898	30 Jun 1898	Independent (Meiji oligarchy)
9	Ōkuma Shigenobu	30 Jun 1898	8 Nov 1898	Kenseitō
10	Yamagata Aritomo	8 Nov 1898	19 Oct 1900	Military (Army)
11	Itō Hirobumi	19 Oct 1900	10 May 1901	Rikken Seiyūkai
12	Katsura Tarō	2 Jun 1901	7 Jan 1906	Military (Army)
13	Saionji Kinmochi	7 Jan 1906	14 Jul 1908	Rikken Seiyūkai
14	Katsura Tarō	14 Jul 1908	30 Aug 1911	Military (Army)
15	Saionji Kinmochi	30 Aug 1911	21 Dec 1912	Rikken Seiyūkai
16	Katsura Tarō	21 Dec 1912	20 Feb 1913	Independent
17	Yamamoto Gonnohyōe	20 Feb 1913	16 Apr 1914	Military (Navy)
18	Ōkuma Shigenobu	16 Apr 1914	9 Oct 1916	Rikken Dōshikai
19	Terauchi Masatake	9 Oct 1916	29 Sep 1918	Military (Army)
20	Hara Takashi	29 Sep 1918	4 Nov 1921	Rikken Seiyūkai
21	Takahashi Korekiyo	13 Nov 1921	12 Jun 1922	Rikken Seiyūkai
22	Katō Tomosaburō	12 Jun 1922	24 Aug 1923	Military (Navy)
23	Yamamoto Gonnohyōe	2 Sep 1923	7 Jan 1924	Military (Navy)
24	Kiyoura Keigo	7 Jan 1924	11 Jun 1924	Independent
25	Katō Takaaki	11 Jun 1924	28 Jan 1926	Kenseikai
26	Wakatsuki Reijirō	30 Jan 1926	20 Apr 1927	Kenseikai
27	Tanaka Giichi	20 Apr 1927	2 Jul 1929	Rikken Seiyūkai
28	Hamaguchi Osachi	2 Jul 1929	14 Apr 1931	Rikken Minseitō
29	Wakatsuki Reijirō	14 Apr 1931	13 Dec 1931	Rikken Minseitō
30	Inukai Tsuyoshi	13 Dec 1931	15 May 1932	Rikken Seiyūkai
31	Saitō Makoto	26 May 1932	8 Jul 1934	Military (Navy)
32	Okada Keisuke	8 Jul 1934	9 Mar 1936	Military (Navy)
33	Hirota Kōki	9 Mar 1936	2 Feb 1937	Independent
34	Hayashi Senjūrō	2 Feb 1937	4 Jun 1937	Military (Army)
35	Konoe Fumimaro	4 Jun 1937	5 Jan 1939	Independent
36	Hiranuma Kiichirō	5 Jan 1939	30 Aug 1939	Independent
37	Abe Nobuyuki	30 Aug 1939	16 Jan 1940	Military (Army)
38	Yonai Mitsumasa	16 Jan 1940	22 Jul 1940	Military (Navy)
39	Konoe Fumimaro	22 Jul 1940	18 Oct 1941	Independent
40	Tōjō Hideki	18 Oct 1941	22 Jul 1944	Taisei Yokusankai
41	Koiso Kuniaki	22 Jul 1944	7 Apr 1945	Taisei Yokusankai
42	Suzuki Kantarō	7 Apr 1945	17 Aug 1945	Taisei Yokusankai
43	Higashikuni Naruhiko	17 Aug 1945	9 Oct 1945	Imperial Family
44	Shidehara Kijūrō	9 Oct 1945	22 May 1946	Independent
45	Yoshida Shigeru	22 May 1946	24 May 1947	Liberal
46	Katayama Tetsu	24 May 1947	10 Mar 1948	Socialist
47	Ashida Hitoshi	10 Mar 1948	15 Oct 1948	Democratic
48	Yoshida Shigeru	15 Oct 1948	10 Dec 1954	Democratic Liberal
49	Hatoyama Ichirō	10 Dec 1954	23 Dec 1956	Japan Democratic
50	Ishibashi Tanzan	23 Dec 1956	25 Feb 1957	Liberal Democratic
51	Kishi Nobusuke	25 Feb 1957	19 Jul 1960	Liberal Democratic
52	Ikeda Hayato	19 Jul 1960	9 Nov 1964	Liberal Democratic
53	Satō Eisaku	9 Nov 1964	7 Jul 1972	Liberal Democratic
54	Tanaka Kakuei	7 Jul 1972	9 Dec 1974	Liberal Democratic
55	Miki Takeo	9 Dec 1974	24 Dec 1976	Liberal Democratic
56	Fukuda Takeo	24 Dec 1976	7 Dec 1978	Liberal Democratic
57	Ōhira Masayoshi	7 Dec 1978	12 Jun 1980	Liberal Democratic
58	Suzuki Zenkō	17 Jul 1980	27 Nov 1982	Liberal Democratic
59	Nakasone Yasuhiro	27 Nov 1982	6 Nov 1987	Liberal Democratic
60	Takeshita Noboru	6 Nov 1987	3 Jun 1989	Liberal Democratic
61	Uno Sōsuke	3 Jun 1989	10 Aug 1989	Liberal Democratic
62	Kaifu Toshiki	10 Aug 1989	5 Nov 1991	Liberal Democratic
63	Miyazawa Kiichi	5 Nov 1991	9 Aug 1993	Liberal Democratic
64	Hosokawa Morihiro	9 Aug 1993	28 Apr 1994	New Frontier
65	Hata Tsutomu	28 Apr 1994	30 Jun 1994	Renewal
66	Murayama Tomiichi	30 Jun 1994	11 Jan 1996	Socialist
67	Hashimoto Ryūtarō	11 Jan 1996	30 Jul 1998	Liberal Democratic
68	Obuchi Keizō	30 Jul 1998	5 Apr 2000	Liberal Democratic
69	Mori Yoshirō	5 Apr 2000	26 Apr 2001	Liberal Democratic
70	Koizumi Junichirō	26 Apr 2001	26 Sep 2006	Liberal Democratic
71	Abe Shinzō	26 Sep 2006	26 Sep 2007	Liberal Democratic
72	Fukuda Yasuo	26 Sep 2007	24 Sep 2008	Liberal Democratic
73	Asō Tarō	24 Sep 2008	16 Sep 2009	Liberal Democratic
74	Hatoyama Yukio	16 Sep 2009	8 Jun 2010	Democratic
75	Kan Naoto	8 Jun 2010	2 Sep 2011	Democratic
76	Noda Yoshihiko	2 Sep 2011	26 Dec 2012	Democratic
77	Abe Shinzō	26 Dec 2012	16 Sep 2020	Liberal Democratic
78	Suga Yoshihide	16 Sep 2020	4 Oct 2021	Liberal Democratic
79	Kishida Fumio	4 Oct 2021	Present	Liberal Democratic

How Many Prime Ministers Has Japan Had?

Japan has had a total of 79 prime ministers since the office was created in 1885. The first was Itō Hirobumi, who took office on December 22, 1885, and served until April 30, 1888. Since then, the country has seen leaders come and go at a dizzying pace, especially during the 1920s and 1930s when the average term in office was barely a year.

The role of the prime minister in Japan is absolutely vital. They are the head of the government and run the country on a day to day basis. The Emperor is the symbolic head of state, but he has no real political power. All the heavy lifting, from crafting budgets to negotiating with foreign leaders, falls on the prime minister and the cabinet.

Over the years, different political parties have held the reins. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been the most dominant force in recent times. In fact, the LDP has governed Japan for the vast majority of the time since its founding in 1955. This dominance is often called the 1955 System because of the way the party consolidated conservative forces to beat the socialists.

Some prime ministers stuck around for a long time. Shigeru Yoshida served for over six years in total, and he did it during the hardest period of the American occupation. But Shinzo Abe holds the all time record. He served for over nine years across two non-consecutive terms, making him the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history. His first term in 2006 lasted only one year, but his second term, starting in 2012, lasted until 2020.

The prime minister’s job involves making huge decisions on both domestic and foreign policy. They lead the Cabinet, command the Self-Defense Forces in a ceremonial sense, and represent Japan at summits like the G7. They also face the Diet, which is Japan’s parliament, and can be removed by a vote of no confidence. That is a lot of pressure for anyone.

Who Was The Prime Minister Of Japan After WW2?

The end of World War II was a chaotic time for Japan. The country was in ruins, occupied by foreign troops for the first time in its history, and the Emperor had just announced that he was not a god. The first prime minister after the war was Naruhiko Higashikuni. He was a prince from the imperial family, which was a very unusual thing. He served only from August 17 to October 9, 1945. His main job was simply to manage the surrender and keep the country from falling apart completely.

After Higashikuni came Kijūrō Shidehara. He had been a diplomat before the war and was known as a moderate. He served from October 1945 to May 1946. It was Shidehara who, along with General Douglas MacArthur, worked on the draft of the new constitution that renounced war. Many people do not know that Shidehara was the one who suggested the now famous Article 9, which forbids Japan from having a military for aggression.

But the towering figure of this era was Shigeru Yoshida. He served several terms between 1946 and 1954. Yoshida was a pragmatic conservative who focused on two things: rebuilding the economy and forging a strong alliance with the United States. He believed that Japan should not spend a lot of money on its own military, but instead rely on the American security umbrella while pouring all its resources into exports and manufacturing. That strategy worked. It became known as the Yoshida Doctrine.

Here are the other notable post-war leaders who shaped Japan:

• Ichirō Hatoyama (1954 to 1956): He normalized diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and helped Japan join the United Nations.
• Nobusuke Kishi (1957 to 1960): He was a hardline conservative and former wartime minister. He pushed the US-Japan Security Treaty, but his heavy handed tactics caused massive protests.
• Hayato Ikeda (1960 to 1964): He introduced the Income Doubling Plan, which is credited with kickstarting the Japanese economic miracle. He told the public that they would become rich, and they did.
• Eisaku Satō (1964 to 1972): He was the longest continuously serving prime minister up to that point. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for his decisions to not build nuclear weapons and for negotiating the return of Okinawa from the US.
• Kakuei Tanaka (1972 to 1974): He finally normalized relations with China. However, his legacy is stained by the Lockheed bribery scandal, which forced him to resign.

In the 1980s, leaders like Zenkō Suzuki and Yasuhiro Nakasone took over. Nakasone, who served from 1982 to 1987, was a close friend of President Ronald Reagan. He strengthened the US-Japan alliance and pushed for Japan to play a bigger role in global affairs. He also tried to privatize Japan’s state-owned railway and telecom companies.

Who Is The Current Prime Minister Of Japan?

Fumio Kishida is the current Prime Minister of Japan. He has held this office since October 4, 2021. He also serves as the President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Kishida was born on July 29, 1957, into a political family. His father was a politician, and his grandfather was also involved in government, so politics runs in his blood.

His political journey is classic LDP resume. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993. Before taking the top job, he held various key posts. Most notably, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017. In that role, he became the longest-serving foreign minister in Japan’s history. He handled the tricky diplomatic relationship with South Korea and the United States during a volatile period. He also briefly acted as Minister of Defense in 2017 and later chaired the LDP Policy Research Council from 2017 to 2020.

Here is something many people find surprising: Kishida spent part of his childhood in the United States. He attended elementary school in New York City because his father was working there. He later started his career in finance before moving into politics. That business background is evident in how he talks