Profiles of Ministers in Japan’s Takaichi Cabinet II

Hirotaka Ishihara, Environment Minister Ishihara, 61, whose father was the late writer and former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, served in several important posts, including state environment minister and special adviser to the prime minister. In the latest LDP leadership election, he supported Hayashi, who belonged to the faction led by Kishida. His elder brother, Nobuteru, was blasted over a gaffe while serving as environment minister. He said “it ends up with money” in a discussion with local residents about an interim storage facility following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture. But Hirotaka is known as a stable person. His motto is “I will go even if there are a great many enemies.” Shinjiro Koizumi, Defense Minister Koizumi, 44, is the fourth generation of a political family, and his father is former Prime Minister Junichiro. First elected to the Diet in the 2009 Lower House election, Koizumi was long regarded as a promising young lawmaker. Although he was seen as a frontrunner, he was defeated in LDP leadership races last year and this year, reflecting concerns about his ability to give answers on policy issues. How he will perform in the Takaichi cabinet will be crucial to whether he can hold on as a prime ministerial contender. Supporting reconstruction after the March 2011 disaster in northeastern Japan is his life’s work, and he repeats visits to the heavily damaged prefecture of Fukushima. His motto is, “When in doubt, go all out.” His wife is freelance announcer Christel Takigawa. Minoru Kihara, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara, 56, won a Diet seat for the first time in 2005 after working at Japan Airlines. Joining a suprapartisan group of lawmakers promoting ties with Taiwan, Kihara shares a conservative stance with Takaichi. He has won a reputation for his practical skills, especially over the controversial revision of Japan’s three key security documents in 2022, when he coordinated within the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition. Kihara was once criticized for a gaffe he made while he was defense minister, saying that supporting LDP candidates in elections would be equal to “rewarding” the hard work of SDF members. Hisashi Matsumoto, Minister for Digital Transformation As a doctor, Matsumoto, 63, has worked to establish emergency medical care systems using flight doctors and for disaster rescue operations. He won a Lower House seat in 2021 to make a Diet debut and joined the cabinet in his second term. Matsumoto has served as parliamentary vice minister of defense and foreign affairs, but he has not held any positions related to digitalization or administrative reform. He has shown a conservative stance, saying that only male descendants from the paternal line of the Imperial Family can become Emperor. Matsumoto supported Takaichi in the latest LDP leadership election. He also supervised “Code Blue,” a television drama series on flight doctors. Takao Makino, Minister for Reconstruction Makino, 66, made a Diet debut in the 2007 Upper House election after working as a journalist and a prefectural assembly member. Known for his steadiness, he succeeded the post of state minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism from his predecessor who quit in 2019 for a gaffe over in road development. Makino usually wears a green tie, inspired by local specialties, such as tea, of his hometown in Shizuoka Prefecture. In the Upper House election in July this year, he won a fourth term despite intense public criticism of the LDP over money scandals. But he was outpolled by some 320,000 votes by the top-elected secretary-general of the Democratic Party for the People. Lamenting the result, he said, “I’ll never forget it.” Jiro Akama, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Akama, 57, who held a professional boxer’s license, succeeded his father to become a member of the Kanagawa prefectural assembly in 1999. Riding the “Koizumi wave” in the 2005 Lower House focusing on postal privatization, he entered national politics. Although he lost the Lower House seat in 2009, he made a comeback thanks to his trademark resilience. In this year’s LDP leadership election, he supported Shinjiro Koizumi, whose constituency is also in Kanagawa. Hitoshi Kikawada, Minister for Policies Related to Children Kikawada, 55, deepened his interest in the sea through recreational scuba diving and studied at a graduate school in the United States, immersing himself in research on marine ecosystems. He decided to enter politics, feeling that Japan’s ocean policy was lagging. Having grown up in Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa, he joined the group of lawmakers around former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is based in the city. But in the latest LDP presidential race, he supported Takaichi, who was his senior at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. He is known for his candid, informal manner. At a press conference by Takaichi, when Kikawada served as a moderator, he made a gaffe, causing Takaichi to apologize. Minoru Kiuchi, Minister for Growth Strategy and Wage Hikes Kiuchi, 60, joined the Foreign Ministry after graduating from the University of Tokyo. Having spent part of his childhood in Germany, he is fluent in German and served as an interpreter for the Emperor. He was one of the so-called rebels who opposed postal privatization pushed by the administration of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. In the 2005 Lower House election, he lost his seat to assassin candidate Katayama and left the LDP. After returning to the party in 2012, he became active as a conservative. He advocates an expansionary fiscal policy and serves as an executive of a group supporting Takaichi. He was among the top 10 lawmakers in party membership recruitment in both 2023 and 2024. His father is Yasumitsu Kiuchi, former National Police Agency commissioner-general. Kimi Onoda, Economic Security Minister Onoda, 42, was born in the U.S. state of Illinois to an American father and a Japanese mother and was raised in a rural village in Okayama Prefecture, her mother’s hometown. As an elementary school kid, she read a manga about Himiko, a queen of ancient Japan, who inspired her to pursue a career in politics. After serving as a member of the Kita Ward assembly in Tokyo, she was first elected to the Diet in the 2016 Upper House election. After it came to light that she held dual nationality, she renounced her U.S. citizenship. In the 2022 Upper House poll, she was re-elected without Komeito’s recommendation. She enjoys strong support from conservative voters and ranked 10th in party membership recruitment in 2024. During the latest party leadership race, she served as the captain of medium-ranking and younger lawmakers supporting Takaichi. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]