Government of Japan


The central government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty-seven administrative divisions, with the emperor as its head of state. His role is ceremonial and he has no powers related to the Government. Instead, it is the Cabinet, comprising the prime minister and the ministers of state, that directs and controls the government and the civil service. The Cabinet has the executive power and is formed by the prime minister, who is the head of government. The Prime Minister is nominated by the National Diet and appointed to office by the Emperor. The current cabinet is the Takaichi Cabinet, which is led by prime minister Sanae Takaichi, who assumed office on 21 October 2025. The country has had a Liberal Democratic minority government since 2025.
The National Diet is the legislature, the organ of the Legislative branch. The Diet is bicameral, consisting of two houses with the House of Councilors being the upper house, and the House of Representatives being the lower house. The members of both houses of the Diet are directly elected by the people, who are the source of sovereignty. The Diet is defined as the supreme organ of sovereignty in the Constitution. The Supreme Court and other lower courts make up the Judicial branch and have all the judicial powers in the state. The Supreme Court has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the constitution and the power of judicial review. The judicial branch is independent from the executive and the legislative branches. Judges are nominated or appointed by the Cabinet and never removed by the executive or the legislature except during impeachment.
The Government of Japan is based in the capital of Tokyo, where the National Diet Building, the Imperial Palace, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister's Office and the ministries are all located.

History

Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan was ruled by the government of successive military shōgun. During this period, effective power of the government resided in the Shōgun, who officially ruled the country in the name of the Emperor. The Shōgun were the hereditary military governors, with their modern rank equivalent to a generalissimo. Although the Emperor was the sovereign who appointed the Shōgun, his roles were ceremonial and he took no part in governing the country. This is often compared to the present role of the Emperor, whose official role is to appoint the Prime Minister.
The return of political power to the Emperor at the end of 1867 meant the resignation of Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" the Emperor's orders. This event restored the country to Imperial rule and the proclamation of the Empire of Japan. In 1889, the Meiji Constitution was adopted in a move to strengthen Japan to the level of western nations, resulting in the first parliamentary system in Asia. It provided a form of mixed constitutional-absolute monarchy, with an independent judiciary, based on the Prussian model of the time.
A new aristocracy known as the kazoku was established. It merged the ancient court nobility of the Heian period, the kuge, and the former daimyō, feudal lords subordinate to the shōgun. It also established the Imperial Diet, consisting of the House of Representatives and the House of Peers. Members of the House of Peers were made up of the Imperial Family, the Kazoku, and those nominated by the Emperor, while members of the House of Representatives were elected by direct male suffrage. Despite clear distinctions between powers of the executive branch and the Emperor in the Meiji Constitution, ambiguity and contradictions in the Constitution eventually led to a political crisis. It also devalued the notion of civilian control over the military, which meant that the military could develop and exercise a great influence on politics.
Following the end of World War II, the present Constitution of Japan was adopted. It replaced the previous Imperial rule with a form of Western-style liberal democracy.
As of 2020, the Japan Research Institute found the national government is mostly analog, because only 7.5% administrative procedures can be completed entirely online. The rate is 7.8% at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 8% at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and only 1.3% at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
On 12 February 2021, Tetsushi Sakamoto was appointed as the Minister of Loneliness to alleviate social isolation and loneliness across different age groups and genders.

The Emperor

The emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and the ceremonial head of state. He is defined by the Constitution to be "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people". However, his role is entirely ceremonial and representative in nature. As explicitly stated in article 4 of the Constitution, he has no powers related to government.
Article 6 of the Constitution of Japan delegates the Emperor the following ceremonial roles:
  1. Appointment of the prime minister as designated by the Diet.
  2. Appointment of the chief justice of the Supreme Court as designated by the Cabinet.
While the Cabinet is the source of executive power and most of its power is exercised directly by the prime minister, several of its powers are exercised through the Emperor. The powers exercised via the Emperor, as stipulated by Article 7 of the Constitution, are:
  1. Promulgation of amendments of the constitution, laws, cabinet orders and treaties.
  2. Dissolution of the House of Representatives.
  3. Proclamation of general election of members of the Diet.
  4. Attestation of the appointment and dismissal of Ministers of State and other officials as provided for by law, and of full powers and credentials of Ambassadors and Ministers.
  5. Attestation of general and special amnesty, commutation of punishment, reprieve, and restoration of rights.
  6. Awarding of honors.
  7. Attestation of instruments of ratification and other diplomatic documents as provided for by law.
  8. Receiving foreign ambassadors and ministers.
  9. Performance of ceremonial functions.
These powers are exercised in accordance with the binding advice of the Cabinet.
The emperor is known to hold the nominal ceremonial authority. For example, he is the only person that has the authority to appoint the prime minister, even though the Diet has the power to designate the person fitted for the position. One such example can be prominently seen in the 2009 Dissolution of the House of Representatives. The House was expected to be dissolved on the advice of the prime minister, but was temporarily unable to do so for the next general election, as both the Emperor and Empress were visiting Canada.
In this manner, the emperor's modern role is often compared to those of the Shogunate period and much of Japan's history, whereby the emperor held great symbolic authority but had little political power; which is often held by others nominally appointed by the emperor himself. Today, a legacy has somewhat continued for a retired prime minister who still wields considerable power, to be called a Shadow Shogun.
Unlike his European counterparts, the emperor is not the source of sovereign power and the government does not act under his name. Instead, the emperor represents the state and appoints other high officials in the name of the state, in which the Japanese people hold sovereignty. Article 5 of the Constitution, in accordance with the Imperial Household Law, allows a regency to be established in the emperor's name, should the emperor be unable to perform his duties.
On November 20, 1989, the Supreme Court ruled it doesn't have judicial power over the emperor.
The Imperial House of Japan is said to be the oldest continuing hereditary monarchy in the world. According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Japan was founded by the Imperial House in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu. Emperor Jimmu was the first Emperor of Japan and the ancestor of all of the Emperors that followed. He is, according to Japanese mythology, the direct descendant of Amaterasu, the sun goddess of the native Shinto religion, through Ninigi, his great-grandfather.
The current emperor of Japan is Naruhito. He was officially enthroned on May 1, 2019, following the abdication of his father. He is styled as His Imperial Majesty, and his reign bears the era name of Reiwa. Fumihito is the heir presumptive to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Executive

The executive branch of Japan is headed by the prime minister. The prime minister is the head of the Cabinet, and is designated by the legislative organ, the National Diet. The Cabinet consists of the ministers of state and may be appointed or dismissed by the prime minister at any time. Explicitly defined to be the source of executive power, it is in practice, however, mainly exercised by the prime minister. The practice of its powers is responsible to the Diet, and as a whole, should the Cabinet lose confidence and support to be in office by the Diet, the Diet may dismiss the Cabinet en masse with a motion of no confidence.

Prime minister

The prime minister of Japan is designated by the National Diet and serves a term of four years or less; with no limits imposed on the number of terms the Prime Minister may hold. The prime minister heads the Cabinet and exercises "control and supervision" of the executive branch, and is the head of government and commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The prime minister is vested with the power to present bills to the Diet, to sign laws, to declare a state of emergency, and may also dissolve the Diet's House of Representatives at will. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet and appoints, or dismisses, the other Cabinet ministers.
Both houses of the National Diet designates the prime minister with a ballot cast under the run-off system. Under the Constitution, should both houses not agree on a common candidate, then a joint committee is allowed to be established to agree on the matter; specifically within a period of ten days, exclusive of the period of recess. However, if both houses still do not agree to each other, the decision made by the House of Representatives is deemed to be that of the National Diet. Upon designation, the prime minister is presented with their letter of appointment, and then formally invested to office by the Emperor.
As a candidate designated by the Diet, the prime minister is required to report to the Diet whenever demanded. The prime minister must also be both a civilian and a member of either house of the Diet.
No.Name Name GenderTook officeLeft officeTermCabinets
1Junichiro Koizumi小泉 純一郎MaleApril 26, 2001September 26, 200687th: Koizumi I
88th: Koizumi II
89th: Koizumi III
2Shinzo Abe安倍 晋三MaleSeptember 26, 2006September 26, 200790th: S. Abe I
3Yasuo Fukuda福田 康夫MaleSeptember 26, 2007September 24, 200891st: Y. Fukuda
4Tarō Asō麻生 太郎MaleSeptember 24, 2008September 16, 200992nd: Asō
5Yukio Hatoyama鳩山 由紀夫MaleSeptember 16, 2009June 8, 201093rd: Y. Hatoyama
6Naoto Kan菅 直人MaleJune 8, 2010September 2, 201194th: Kan
7Yoshihiko Noda野田 佳彦MaleSeptember 2, 2011December 26, 201295th: Noda
8Shinzo Abe安倍 晋三MaleDecember 26, 2012September 16, 202096th: S. Abe II
97th: S. Abe III
98th: S. Abe IV
9Yoshihide Suga菅 義偉MaleSeptember 16, 2020October 4, 202199th: Suga
10Fumio Kishida岸田 文雄MaleOctober 4, 20211 October 2024100th: Kishida I
101st: Kishida II
11Shigeru Ishiba石破 茂Male1 October 202421 October 2025102nd: Ishiba I
103rd: Ishiba II
12Sanae Takaichi高市 早苗Female21 October 2025Present104th: Takaichi