Chief Cabinet Secretary

Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan
内閣官房長官
*Naikaku-kanbō-chōkan*
Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan; 内閣官房長官; Naikaku-kanbō-chōkan
	Emblem of the Government of Japan
	Incumbent; Yoshimasa Hayashi; since 14 December 2023
	Cabinet Secretariat
Style	Mr. Secretary
Member of	Cabinet; National Security Council
Reports to	The prime minister
Appointer	The prime minister; attested to by the emperor
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	Secretary-General of the Cabinet
Inaugural holder	Jōji Hayashi
Formation	3 May 1947; 77 years ago
Succession	Second
Deputy	Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Salary	¥20,916,000
Website	http://www.cas.go.jp/

The chief cabinet secretary of Japan (内閣官房長官, Naikaku-kanbō-chōkan) is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan.^[1] The chief cabinet secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch,^[2] and also serves as the government's press secretary. The secretary is a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is appointed by the emperor upon the nomination by the prime minister.^[3] The chief cabinet secretary is the second in line of succession to the prime minister, and 1st if the office of the deputy prime minister is unoccupied.^[4]

History

In March 1879, the precursor of the position, the Secretary-General of the Cabinet, 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). 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, who served in the position under Tanaka Giichi. Since then, eight other former chief cabinet secretaries have become prime ministers, most recently Shinzō Abe, Yasuo Fukuda, and Yoshihide Suga.

Yoshihide Suga, who later became Prime Minister of Japan, served as Chief Cabinet Secretary under Shinzo Abe for nearly eight years, making him 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.^[5]

The current chief cabinet secretary is Yoshimasa Hayashi, who took office on December 14, 2023.

List of secretaries-general of the cabinet

Shōwa era

Tsukamoto Kiyoji (December 25, 1926 – April 20, 1927)
Ichirō Hatoyama (April 20, 1927 – July 2, 1929) - later became prime minister in the mid-1950s.
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	Prime Minister
	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
	Ryutarō Nemoto	November 22, 1955	December 23, 1956	744		Ichirō Hatoyama
	Hirohide Ishida	December 12, 1956	July 10, 1957	210		Tanzan Ishibashi
	Hirohide Ishida	December 12, 1956	July 10, 1957	210		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		Kakuei Tanaka
	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		Takeo Fukuda
	Rokusuke Tanaka	December 7, 1978	November 9, 1979	337		Masayoshi Ōhira
	Masayoshi Ito^{[n 5]}	November 9, 1979	July 17, 1980	251		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	Prime Minister
	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 [ja]	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		Kiichi Miyazawa
	Masayoshi Takemura	August 9, 1993	April 28, 1994	262		Morihiro Hosokawa
	Hiroshi Kumagai [ja]	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		Tomiichi Murayama
	Seiroku Kajiyama	January 11, 1996	September 11, 1997	609		Ryutaro Hashimoto
	Kanezo Muraoka [ja]	September 11, 1997	July 30, 1998	322		Ryutaro Hashimoto
	Hiromu Nonaka	July 30, 1998	October 10, 1999	432		Keizo Obuchi
	Mikio Aoki	October 10, 1999	July 4, 2000	273		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
	Yasuo Fukuda^{[n 8]}	October 27, 2000	May 7, 2004	1380		Junichiro Koizumi
	Hiroyuki Hosoda	May 7, 2004	October 31, 2005	450
	Shinzo Abe^{[n 9]}	October 31, 2005	September 26, 2006	330
	Yasuhisa Shiozaki	September 26, 2006	August 27, 2007	335		Shinzo Abe
	Kaoru Yosano	August 27, 2007	September 26, 2007	30		Shinzo Abe
	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		Naoto Kan
	Osamu Fujimura	September 2, 2011	December 26, 2012	481		Yoshihiko Noda
	Yoshihide Suga^{[n 10]}	December 26, 2012	April 30, 2019	2316		Shinzo Abe

Reiwa era

Liberal Democratic

Chief Cabinet Secretary		Term of office			Prime Minister
Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Days	Prime Minister
	Yoshihide Suga^{[n 10]}	May 1, 2019	September 16, 2020	504		Shinzo Abe
	Katsunobu Katō	September 16, 2020	October 4, 2021	383		Yoshihide Suga
	Hirokazu Matsuno	October 4, 2021	December 14, 2023	801		Fumio Kishida
	Yoshimasa Hayashi	December 14, 2023	Incumbent	212		Fumio Kishida

Notes

^ Later served as Prime Minister 1964-72
^ Later served as Prime Minister 1978-80
^ Later served as Prime Minister 1980-82
^ ^a ^b Later served as Prime Minister 1987-89
^ Served as Acting Prime Minister on the death of Ōhira, 12 June - 17 July 1980
^ Later served as Prime Minister 1991-93
^ ^a ^b Later served as Prime Minister 1998-2000
^ Later served as Prime Minister 2007-08.
^ Later served as Prime Minister 2006-07, 2012-20
^ ^a ^b Later served as Prime Minister 2020-21

References

^ Cabinet Act, Article 13.
^ Cabinet Act, Article 12, Paragraph 2, Item 4 and 5
^ Cabinet Act, Article 15
^ Cabinet Act, Article 9
^ "Government strongman Suga set to become Japan's longest-serving chief Cabinet secretary". Japan Times. Jiji Press. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.