The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Justice. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japan.
The current minister is Takashi Yamashita, who took office on 17 September 2026.
Organization and authority On 1 August 1952, the Attorney General's Office became the Ministry of Justice, headed by a Minister of Justice rather than an attorney general.
By law, the Minister of Justice is authorized to order executions of any inmate on death row at anytime, making the position highly influential. The Minister is also authorized to deport or grant any foreigner residential or permanent visas.
List of ministers of justice
+Justice ministerTerm of officePrime minister#PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeDays1Tokutaro KimuraAugust 1, 1952October 30, 1952Shigeru Yoshida2Takeru InukaiOctober 30, 1952April 22, 19543Ryogo KatoApril 22, 1954June 19, 19544Naoshi OharaJune 19, 1954December 10, 19545Shiro HamamuraDecember 10, 1954November 22, 1955Ichirō Hatoyama6Ryozo MakinoNovember 22, 1955December 23, 19567Umekichi NakamuraDecember 23, 1956July 10, 1957Tanzan IshibashiNobusuke Kishi8Toshiki KarasaJuly 10, 1957June 12, 19589Kiichi AichiJune 12, 1958June 18, 195910Hiroya InoJune 18, 1959July 19, 1960 11Tetsuzo KojimaJuly 19, 1960 December 8, 1960Hayato Ikeda12Koshiro UekiDecember 8, 1960July 18, 196213Kunio NakagakiJuly 18, 1962July 18, 196314Okinori KayaJuly 18, 1963July 18, 196415Hitoshi TakahashiJuly 18, 1964June 3, 1965Eisaku Satō16Mitsujirō IshiiJune 3, 1965December 3, 196617Isaji TanakaDecember 3, 1966November 25, 196718Bunzo AkamaNovember 25, 1967November 30, 196819Kichinosuke SaigoNovember 30, 1968January 14, 197020Takeji KobayashiJanuary 14, 1970February 9, 197121Daisuke AkitaFebruary 9, 1971February 17, 197122 (12)Koshiro UekiFebruary 17, 1971July 5, 197123Shigesaburō MaeoJuly 5, 1971July 7, 197224Yūichi KōriJuly 7, 1972December 22, 1972Kakuei Tanaka25Isaji TanakaDecember 22, 1972November 25, 197326Umekichi NakamuraNovember 25, 1973November 11, 197427Seigo HamanoNovember 11, 1974December 9, 197428Osamu InabaDecember 9, 1974December 24, 1976Takeo Miki29Hajime FukudaDecember 24, 1976October 5, 1977Takeo Fukuda30Mitsuo SetayamaOctober 5, 1977December 7, 197831Yoshimi FuruiDecember 7, 1978November 9, 1979Masayoshi Ōhira32Tadao KuraishiNovember 9, 1979July 17, 198033Seisuke OkunoJuly 17, 1980November 30, 1980Zenkō Suzuki34Michita SakataNovember 30, 1980November 27, 198235Hatano AkiraNovember 27, 1982December 27, 1983Yasuhiro Nakasone36Eisaku SumiDecember 27, 1983November 1, 198437Hitoshi ShimazakiNovember 1, 1984December 28, 198538Seigo SuzukiDecember 28, 1985July 22, 198639Kaname EndoJuly 22, 1986November 6, 198740Yukio HasegawaNovember 6, 1987December 27, 1988Noboru Takeshita41Takashi HasegawaDecember 27, 1998December 30, 199842Masami TakatsujiDecember 30, 1998June 3 198943Kazuo TanikawaJune 3 1989August 10, 1989Sōsuke Uno44Masao GotoAugust 10, 1989February 28, 1990Toshiki Kaifu45Shin HasegawaFebruary 28, 1990September 13, 199046Seiroku KajiyamaSeptember 13, 1990December 29, 199047Megumi SatoDecember 29, 1990November 5, 199148Takashi TawaraNovember 5, 1991December 12, 1992Kiichi Miyazawa49Masaharu GotōdaDecember 12, 1992August 9, 199350Akira MikazukiAugust 9, 1993April 28, 1994Morihiro Hosokawa51Shigeto NaganoApril 28, 1994May 8, 1994Tsutomu Hata52Hiroshi NakaiMay 8, 1994June 30, 199453Isao MaedaJune 30, 1994August 8, 1995Tomiichi Murayama54Tomoharu TazawaAugust 8, 1995October 8, 199555Hiroshi MiyazawaOctober 8, 1995January 11, 199656Ritsuko NagaoJanuary 11, 1996November 7, 1996Ryutaro Hashimoto57Isao MatsuuraNovember 7, 1996September 11, 199758Kokichi ShimoinabaSeptember 11, 1997July 30, 199859Shozaburo NakamuraJuly 30, 1998March 8, 1999Keizō Obuchi60Takao JinnouchiMarch 8, 1999October 5, 199961Hideo UsuiOctober 5, 1999July 4, 2000Yoshirō Mori62Okiharu YasuokaJuly 4, 2000December 5, 200063Masahiko KōmuraDecember 5, 2000April 26, 200164Mayumi MoriyamaApril 26, 2001September 22, 2003Junichiro Koizumi65Daizō NozawaSeptember 22, 2003September 27, 200466Chieko NōnoSeptember 27, 2004October 31, 200567Seiken SugiuraOctober 31, 2005September 26, 200668Jinen NagaseSeptember 26, 2006August 27, 2007Shinzo Abe69Kunio HatoyamaAugust 27, 2007August 2, 2008Yasuo Fukuda70Okiharu YasuokaAugust 2, 2008September 24, 200871Eisuke MoriSeptember 24, 2008September 16, 2009Taro Aso72Keiko ChibaSeptember 16, 2009September 7, 2010Yukio HatoyamaNaoto Kan73Minoru YanagidaSeptember 7, 2010November 22, 201074Yoshito SengokuNovember 22, 2010January 14, 201175Satsuki EdaJanuary 14, 2011September 2, 201176Hideo HiraokaSeptember 2, 2011January 13, 2012Yoshihiko Noda77Toshio OgawaJanuary 13, 2012June 4, 201278Makoto TakiJune 4, 2012October 1, 201279Keishu TanakaOctober 1, 2012October 23, 201280(78)Makoto TakiOctober 23, 2012December 26, 201281Sadakazu TanigakiDecember 26, 2012September 3, 2014Shinzo Abe82Midori MatsushimaSeptember 3, 2014October 20, 201483Yōko KamikawaOctober 20, 2014October 7, 201584Mitsuhide IwakiOctober 7, 2015August 3, 201685Katsutoshi KanedaAugust 3, 2016August 3, 201786(83)Yōko KamikawaAugust 3, 2017October 2, 201887Takashi YamashitaOctober 2, 2018September 11, 201988Katsuyuki KawaiSeptember 11, 2019October 31, 201989Masako MoriOctober 31, 2019September 16, 202090(83)Yōko KamikawaSeptember 16, 2020October 4, 2021Yoshihide Suga91Yoshihisa FurukawaOctober 4, 202110 August 2022Fumio Kishida92Yasuhiro Hanashi10 August 202211 November 202293Ken SaitōNovember 11, 2022September 13, 202394Ryuji KoizumiSeptember 13, 2023October 1, 202495Hideki MakiharaOctober 1, 2024November 11, 2024Shigeru Ishiba96Keisuke SuzukiNovember 11, 2024October 21, 202597Hiroshi HiraguchiOctober 21, 2025September 17, 2026Sanae Takaichi98(87)Takashi YamashitaSeptember 17, 2026Incumbent
References