Fumio Kishida's tenure as prime minister of Japan began on 4 October 2021 when he was officially appointed prime minister by Emperor Naruhito in a ceremony at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, succeeding Yoshihide Suga.

Kishida stood in the 2021 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election to succeed Suga, who announced he would not seek re-election as LDP leader following low approval ratings. On 29 September 2021, Kishida defeated Taro Kono in a runoff vote to become the leader of the LDP. Upon assuming office as prime minister, Kishida stated that his administration would pursue a "new model of capitalism" by implementing redistributive policies aimed at raising wages and expanding the middle class. His tenure saw a reversal of decades-long deflationary economic policies, with Japan experiencing its highest wage growth in 30 years, driven by record wage increases achieved through annual wage negotiations. He led the LDP to victory in 2021 general election and 2022 House of Councillors election, albeit at a slightly reduced majority. He oversaw the dissolution of the Unification Church (UC) in Japan following the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 and the disbandment of his faction Kōchikai, along with Seiwakai and Shisuikai following a party-wide slush fund corruption scandal. His tenure also oversaw the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in August 2023, less than 12 years since the Great East Japan earthquake in March 2011. He reshuffled his cabinet twice, in August 2022 to remove cabinet members affiliated with the UC and in September 2023 to remove cabinet members associated with the slush fund scandal.

On foreign policy, Kishida continued strengthening the Quad Security Dialogue and close cooperation with NATO in pursuit of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, signed the American–Japanese–Korean trilateral pact in 2023, formed security pacts with the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines, and took steps to repair ties with South Korea. In 2022 he instructed the cabinet to increase Japan's military budget by 65% by 2027, the most significant defense budget increase in decades. Kishida responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by becoming the first Asian country to impose sanctions on Russia and Belarus and authorizing civilian aid to Ukraine. Kishida survived an assassination attempt on 15 April 2023 while delivering a campaign speech. The end of his premiership was marked by a struggle to recover from record-low approval ratings amid fallout from the LDP slush fund scandal. On 14 August 2024, Kishida announced that he would resign from office and step down as LDP party leader, thereby not seeking re-election in September of the same year. In the LDP leadership election, Kishida initially endorsed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, then, in the second round, whipped votes for Shigeru Ishiba, who defeated Sanae Takaichi to become the next party leader and prime minister.

LDP presidential bid

Following Yoshihide Suga's announcement on 3 September 2021 that he would resign, following low approval ratings (at one point below 30%), and a new wave of COVID-19 infections, Kishida and Taro Kono of Shikōkai faction were in the lead to replace him. Suga's decision to not seek re-election as head of the LDP triggered another leadership election in September, just a little more than a year after the previous election in 2020. Throughout the race, Kono was heavily favored to win as he remained in first place among various LDP polls, and he received endorsements by Suga and others.

On 29 September 2021, Kishida defeated Taro Kono in a runoff vote to become the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and replaced outgoing party leader Yoshihide Suga. He received a total of 257 votes (60.19%), from 249 parliamentary members and eight rank-and-file members, to become Japan's next prime minister.

Premiership

The First Kishida cabinet took office on 4 October 2021 and consisted of 21 members, including 13 who joined the Cabinet for the first time while also including 2 veterans, Toshimitsu Motegi and Nobuo Kishi, who retained their respective posts from the previous cabinet under Suga; He also became the first LDP prime minister of Kōchikai origin in nearly three decades, since Kiichi Miyazawa resigned in 1993.

2021 general election and Second cabinet

On the same day, Kishida announced he would call a general election for 31 October 2021. Kishida gave his first speech as prime minister on 8 October 2021, vowing to fight and end the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan as well as announcing measures to counter the perceived threats by China and North Korea. Following the 2021 Japanese general election, Kishida maintained the premiership, although the LDP lost 25 seats. He formed the Second Kishida Cabinet by replacing Toshimitsu Motegi with Yoshimasa Hayashi as the foreign minister; Motegi became the party's secretary-general.

Domestic policy

Economy

Kishida's tenure saw a reversal of decades-long deflationary economic policies, with Japan experiencing its highest wage growth in 30 years, driven by record wage increases achieved through annual wage negotiations. In December 2022, Kishida instructed his government to increase "national security-related spending" to 2 percent of Japan's GDP, while increasing the defence budget from 5.4 trillion yen ($40 billion) in 2022 to 8.9 trillion yen ($66 billion) by 2027, up 65%. This would lead to a spending a total of around 43 trillion yen ($321 billion) between 2023 and 2027, up 56% from 2019 to 2023.

Amidst the relaxation of COVD-19 measures in Spring 2022, Kishida resumed the admission of foreign workers into Japan, but stopped short of reforming the nation's immigration policy. The government's minimum wage target of ¥1,500 by the mid-2030s was questioned by economists, who argued that certain macroeconomic factors could prevent the goal from being reached. Kishida appointed Kazuo Ueda as Governor of the Bank of Japan in April 2023, who stated he planned to continue the ultra easy monetary policy introduced by the outgoing Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. A few weeks before his next cabinet reshuffle, Kishida stated he wanted to raise the hourly minimum wage in Japan to about ¥1,500 ($10.29) by 2030. In 2023, it was predicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Germany would eclipse Japan as the world's Number 3 economy.

Child care Kishida set child care as his government's priority for the year 2023. He emphasized the potential consequences of child poverty and declining birth rates, and stated that his administration would increase monetary child benefits given to parents. Kishida announced a plan to double the country's children-related budget by June 2023, and instructed government ministers in the administration to outline child care plans by the end of March 2023.

Kishida established the Children and Families Agency on 1 April 2023 to serve as a new administrative body within the Cabinet Office to tackle issues relating to child welfare. This includes nursery access, child allowances, the fight against child poverty, child abuse and suicide prevention, cyberbullying, and support for children with disabilities, all of which had been handled by different government agencies. On 1 June, the Japanese government set aside ¥3.5 trillion annually for child care.

Japan's child poverty rate declined to 11.5 percent by 2022. UNICEF ranked Japan eighth among 39 developed countries (OECD) in tackling child poverty in 2023. The media's response to Kishida's child care policies has been mixed, with The Guardian's Justin McCurry criticizing them as ineffective for not raising Japan's birth rate.

Response to the COVID-19 Omicron variant In December 2021 amid COVID-19 Omicron variant spreading around the globe, Japanese prime minister Kishida announced that the government imposed tightening travel restrictions on international travelers, with some governments banning travel completely to curb transmission. By January 2022, Kishida urged Japanese people to get triple or fourth vaccinated amid the country enter the first wave of predominant Omicron COVID-19 virus, although the new state of emergency and new restrictions were both highly unlikely to fight record surge as of now.

On 21 August 2022 amid the second Omicron infection surge, it was reported that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had tested positive for COVID-19 Omicron variant and he has experiencing "very mild" symptoms. On 22 August, in an online interview with a news company, Prime Minister Kishida will perform his official duties (while in quarantine) via telework from the prime minister's official residence. However, he emphasized that "I will continue to work remotely while undergoing medical treatment. I will also attend Cabinet meetings online. I will do my best to avoid delays in national politics." After completing his recuperation period on 31 August as he recovered from Omicron variant, Kishida entered the prime minister's Office and then returned to face-to-face duties.

In September 2022, Kishida announced that visa requirements from some countries would be waived from 11 October, in a move to reopen international travel after the pandemic border restrictions. Prior to the pandemic, Japan did not require tourist visas for 68 countries and regions. On 20 January 2023, amid the third Omicron infection falls, Kishida announced that the government pledged to downgrade the legal status of COVID-19 to a Class 5 disease, the same level as a seasonal influenza, a move that would lead to a major shift in the pandemic border restrictions that have been in place for around three years. However, on 13 March, Kishida's government ended the request for citizens to wear face masks in public, a policy initiated to combat the spread of Omicron variant and its subsequent subvariants.

On 27 April, Kishida's Health Minister Katsunobu Katō announced that the government would downgrade the classification of COVID-19 to be on par with "seasonal flu" by midnight 8 May. Regarding COVID-19 measures, Kato said in a press conference that Omicron variant and its subsequent subvariants were cause of less severe disease and deaths (during the first 16-month period) than any previous strains, which indicate there is no need to worry about an increase of public health risks. As of result, daily announcements of COVID-19 Omicron cases will be officially ended so far. Although the public health reports will be simplified to weekly announcements based on information from designated medical institutions. The media's response to Kishida's COVID-19 policies has been mixed, with the Mainichi Shimbun warning that the COVID-19 classification-downgrade could result in the "collapse" of Okinawa's medical system during a surge in June 2023.

Release of radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear power plant