TheNational Diet (parliament) nominates the prime minister from among its members (typically from among the members of theHouse of Representatives). They are then formally appointed by theemperor. The prime minister must retain the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. The prime minister lives and works at theNaikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence) inNagatachō,Chiyoda,Tokyo, close to theNational Diet Building.
Sixty-six people (sixty-five men and one woman) have served as prime minister, the first of whom wasItō Hirobumi taking office on 22 December 1885. Thelongest-serving prime minister wasShinzo Abe, who served over eight years across two non-consecutive terms, and the shortest-serving wasPrince Naruhiko Higashikuni, who served fifty-four days.
Designation
Abbreviations
In Japanese, due to the special nature of the work of the head of government, the prime minister's titles vary depending on context, sometimes demonstrating their role. Since the inception of thecabinet system, the prime minister is known in Japanese asNaikaku Sōri-Daijin (内閣総理大臣) whenever they are referred to as the head of the Cabinet. However, this title is usually abbreviated toSōri-Daijin (総理大臣). Other abbreviations includeSōri (総理),Shushō (首相) or evenSaishō (宰相).[4]
English notation
The officialEnglish rendering is 'Prime Minister'.[5] This English translation was informally used as the English translation of 'Grand Minister' before the introduction of the cabinet system. However, this was not the original English translation of 'Prime Minister', and aGerman translation, 'Minister President of the State', was also used in the past.
Before the adoption of theMeiji Constitution, Japan had in practice no writtenconstitution. Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system known asritsuryō was enacted in the lateAsuka period and earlyNara period. It described a government based on an elaborate and rationalmeritocratic bureaucracy, serving, in theory, under the ultimate authority of theemperor; although in practice, real power was often held elsewhere, such as in the hands of theFujiwara clan, who intermarried with theimperial family in theHeian period, or by the rulingshōgun. Theoretically, the lastritsuryō code, theYōrō Code enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of theMeiji Restoration.[6]
Under this system, theDaijō-daijin (太政大臣; Chancellor of the Realm)[7] was the head of theDaijō-kan (Department of State), the highest organ of Japan's pre-modern Imperial government during theHeian period and until briefly under the Meiji Constitution with the appointment ofSanjō Sanetomi in 1871. The office was replaced in 1885 with the appointment ofItō Hirobumi to the new position of Minister President of State,[8] four years before the enactment of the Meiji Constitution, which mentions neither the Cabinet nor the position of Prime Minister explicitly.[9][10] It took its current form with the adoption of theConstitution of Japan in 1947.
To date,sixty-six people have served in this position. Thelongest-serving prime minister to date isShinzo Abe, who served in two non-consecutive terms for 8 years, 267 days: from 26 September 2006 until 26 September 2007, and from 26 December 2012 until 16 September 2020.[11] The shortest-serving prime minister to date isPrince Naruhiko Higashikuni, who served for fifty-four days: from 17 August until 9 October 1945.
Appointment
The document appointingNoboru Takeshita as prime minister. ThePrivy Seal of Japan and signature of Crown PrinceAkihito (then temporarily performing state acts during the illness of EmperorHirohito) can be seen in the centre, and the signature of the outgoing prime ministerYasuhiro Nakasone on the left
The prime minister is nominated by both houses of theDiet, before the conduct of any other business. Each house conducts a ballot under therun-off system. If the two houses choose different individuals, then a joint committee of both houses is appointed to agree on a common nominee. Ultimately, however, if the two houses do not agree, or if the House of Councillors does not make a nomination within 10 days after the House of Representatives vote, the nominee of the House of Representatives is deemed to be that of the Diet. Therefore, the House of Representatives can theoretically ensure the appointment of any prime minister it wants.[12] The nominee is then formallyappointed to office and presented with their appointment letter by theemperor at theTokyo Imperial Palace.[13]
Conventionally, since the prime minister must maintain the confidence of the Diet to stay in office, they are almost always the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or the leader of the senior partner in the governing coalition. But there have been three cabinet prime ministers from junior coalition partners (Hitoshi Ashida: 1948,Morihiro Hosokawa: 1993 andTomiichi Murayama: 1994), a fewminority governments (most recently theHata Cabinet in 1994 and at least numerically theSecond Hashimoto Cabinet of 1996 during its first year, but with anextra-cabinet cooperation (閣外協力,kakugai kyōryoku) agreement with two parties, sufficient to ensure safe majorities for most government initiatives), and several cabinets with a majority in the House of Representatives, but without legislative majority of their own (most recently theDPJ-led cabinets,Kan andNoda Cabinets after the2010 upper house election; cf.Nejire Kokkai/"twisted Diets").[citation needed]
Qualifications
Must be a member of either house of theDiet. (This implies a minimum age of 25 and a Japanese nationality requirement.)[14]
May override a court injunction against an administrative act upon showing of cause.[24]
Unlike most of their counterparts in constitutional monarchies, the prime minister is bothde jure andde facto chief executive. In most other constitutional monarchies, the monarch is at least nominal chief executive, while being bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In contrast, the Constitution of Japan explicitly vests executive power in the Cabinet, of which the prime minister is the leader; this greatly enhances the prime minister's position compared to prime ministers in other parliamentary democracies. Their countersignature is required for all laws and Cabinet orders. While most ministers in parliamentary democracies have some freedom of action within the bounds ofcabinet collective responsibility, the Japanese Cabinet is effectively an extension of the prime minister's authority.
Insignia
Standard of the Prime Minister
The5–7 Paulownia is the crest used by the Prime Minister
Located near the Diet building, the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan is called theNaikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei (内閣総理大臣官邸). The original Kantei served from 1929 until 2002, when a new building was inaugurated to serve as the current Kantei.[25] The old Kantei was then converted into the Official Residence, orKōtei (公邸).[26] The Kōtei lies to the southwest of the Kantei, and is linked by a walkway.[26]
The prime minister of Japan travels in aToyota Century. The LexusLS 600h L, which served as the prime minister's official car from 2008 to 2019, became a spare/alternative vehicle used by the Prime Minister.[27]
For overseas air travel, the Japanese government maintains twoBoeing 777, which replaced theBoeing 747-400 also in 2019. The aircraft is also used by theemperor, the members of the imperial family, and other high-ranking officials.
They have the radio callsignsJapanese Air Force One and Japanese Air Force Two when operating on official business, and Cygnus One and Cygnus Two when operating outside of official business (e.g., on training flights). The aircraft always fly together on government missions, with one serving as the primary transport and the other serving as a backup with maintenance personnel on board. The aircraft are officially referred to as Japanese government exclusive aircraft (日本国政府専用機,Nippon-koku seifu sen'yōki).[28]
Until the mid-1930s, the prime minister of Japan was normally granted a hereditarypeerage (kazoku) prior to leaving office if they had not already been ennobled. Titles were usually bestowed in the ranks ofcount,viscount orbaron, depending on the relative accomplishments and status of the prime minister. The two highest ranks,marquess andprince, were only bestowed upon highly distinguished statesmen, and were not granted to a prime minister after 1928. The last prime minister who was a peer was BaronKijūrō Shidehara, who served as Prime Minister from October 1945 to May 1946. The peerage was abolished when theConstitution of Japan came into effect in May 1947.
Certain eminent prime ministers have been awarded theOrder of the Chrysanthemum, typically in the degree of Grand Cordon. The highest honour in the Japanese honours system, the Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, has only been conferred upon select prime ministers and eminent statesmen; the last such award to a living prime minister was toSaionji Kinmochi in 1928. More often, the Order of the Chrysanthemum has been a posthumous distinction; both the Collar and Grand Cordon of the order were last awarded posthumously to former prime ministerShinzo Abe in July 2022.[29]
After relinquishing office, the prime minister is normally accorded the second or senior third rank in the court order of precedence, and is usually raised to the senior second rank posthumously. Certain distinguished prime ministers have been posthumously raised to the first rank; the last such award was to Eisaku Sato in 1975. Since the 1920s, following their tenure in office, prime ministers have typically been conferred with the Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Paulownia Flowers (until 2003 a special higher class of the Order of the Rising Sun), depending on tenure and eminence. However, honours may be withheld due to misconduct or refusal on the part of the prime minister (for example,Kiichi Miyazawa).
The Prime Minister also awards individuals in recognition of their accomplishments in sport, entertainment, and other fields. Some of the awards and commendations offered include the Prime Minister's Award, created by Eisaku Satō in 1966, and thePeople's Honour Award, created by Takeo Fukuda in 1977. Additionally, the PM also presents thePrime Minister's Trophy on behalf of the Japan Professional Sports Association and the Monodzukuri Nippon award on behalf of the Japanese Manufacturing Association.
^Article 55 of the Imperial Constitution only bound the ministers of state, i.e. all members of the cabinet including the prime minister, to "give their advice to the Emperor and be responsible for it."
1 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the Europe–Asia border.2 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the Africa–Asia border.
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