The , or , is the Cabinet of Japan

Cabinet of Japan

The of Japan is the executive branch of the government of Japan. It consists of the Prime Minister and up to fourteen other members, called Ministers of State. The Prime Minister is designated by the Diet, and the remaining ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister...

 member in charge of the Ministry of Defense, formerly known as the Defence Agency before 2007. The current Japanese Minister of Defense is Yasuo Ichikawa

Yasuo Ichikawa

is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet . A native of Komatsu, Ishikawa and graduate of Mie University, he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 1965 to 1990, and had served in the assembly of Ishikawa...

, a member of the DPJ

Democratic Party of Japan

The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...

. Yasuo Ichikawa has been the Minister of Defense since 2 September 2011. Some believe that upgrading the defense agency to the Ministry of Defense will have a deep and far-reaching effect on Japan's future military development.

On January 9, 2007, the Japan Defense Agency changed its name to the Ministry of Defense, and the head of the Defense Agency elevated from Director General to Minister of Defense.

On the day of the elevation to Defense Minister, Chinese spokesman, Liu Jianchao

Liu Jianchao

Liu Jianchao is the current Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Philippines. He was formerly the chief spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the former director-general of its Information Department.-Biography:...

, expressed his hopes that Japan would stay on the track of peaceful development. On 26 December 2007, the government of Japan made the decision to upgrade its Defense Agency to the "Ministry of Defense" in the expectation to have a far-reaching effect on Japan's future military development. The defense policy that has been pursued by Japan is based on the “Basic Policy for National Defense”, which was adopted by the Cabinet in May 1957. Japan’s main goal of national defense is the prevention of indirect as well as direct aggression from outside enemies.

History

The Japanese government made the upgrade from the Defense Agency to the Ministry with a ceremony that was attended by then Prime Minister Shinzō Abe

Shinzo Abe

was the 90th Prime Minister of Japan, elected by a special session of the National Diet on 26 September 2006. He was Japan's youngest post–World War II prime minister and the first born after the war. Abe served as prime minister for nearly twelve months, before resigning on 12 September 2007...

 and the new Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma

Fumio Kyuma

is a Japanese politician who has served in the Diet of Japan since 1980. Kyuma graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1964 and worked for the Ministry of Agriculture...

. The creation of a Defense Minister, was in conjunction with Prime Minister Abe’s continued efforts to ensure a stronger image of the Japanese military. The bill in which to upgrade the Defense Agency to the Defense Ministry was approved by the Lower House in November 2007 and the Upper House in mid-December 2007. In the light of Defense Agency being transformed into the Ministry of Defense, the Self-Defense Force (SDF) was given the responsibilities of international operations, disaster relief and peacekeeping within the overseas locations.

Defense Industry

In July 1970, the Defense Agency director General Yasihiro established five directives for the defense industry:

1. Maintaining the industry base for national security for Japan.
2. To obtain equipment from Japan’s domestic development, production and research efforts.
3. To use the civilian sector for the production of arms domestically.
4. To set long term goals for production, development, and research.
5. Become competitive in the defense production field.

By the late 1970s, Japan had received suppliers who developed and began production on a range of modernized equipment including artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, tanks, aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, and major surface and underwater naval combatants. In the late 1980s efforts had been implemented to facilitate an efficient command policy, which would be able to be implemented, in the event of a crisis. The government of Japan had maintained the main principles that their military action would only be authorized by the hand of the civilians.

In October 1985, the Defense Agency began the consideration of three development options for the FSX; adoption of a foreign model, keeping an existing model, or domestic development. The agency had initially leaned towards the domestic development, however, in late 1986, the United States persuaded them to create a co-production agreement.

In October 1987, the US and Japanese officials met and decided on a joint project to remodel the F-15.

Chain of command

• 1. Prime Minister
• 2. Minister of Defense
• 3. Chief of Joint Staff Office
• 4. Chief of Staff of the GSDF
• 5. Chief of Staff of the MSDF
• 6. Chief of Staff of the JASDF

Structure

The Supreme Commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces or (JSDF), who does not formally constitute a uniformed military, is the Prime Minister. The Emperor of Japan is a constitutional monarch and does not have political or military authority over the JSDF; that authority rests with the Prime Minister however, it is also important to note that the Emperor of Japan formally appoints the Prime Minister. The Minister of Defense is responsible for the organization and formulating the national security policy. The budget request is drafted by the Ministry of Finance and making its own legislative proposals to the Diet.

The Minister of Defense is advised on every concern related to the duties of the Japan Self-Defense Force by the Chief of the Joint Staff Office.

Ministers of Defense

#	Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Cabinet
21st century 21st century The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domini era or the Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The century began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100. The years from 2001 to 2010 are historical; the years from 2011 to 2100 are subject to futurology and...
1		Fumio Kyuma Fumio Kyuma is a Japanese politician who has served in the Diet of Japan since 1980. Kyuma graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1964 and worked for the Ministry of Agriculture...	January 9, 2007	July 4, 2007	Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe was the 90th Prime Minister of Japan, elected by a special session of the National Diet on 26 September 2006. He was Japan's youngest post–World War II prime minister and the first born after the war. Abe served as prime minister for nearly twelve months, before resigning on 12 September 2007...
2		Yuriko Koike Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician, who was the Minister of Defense in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but resigned August 27, 2007 after only 54 days in office...	July 4, 2007	August 27, 2007	Shinzō Abe
3		Masahiko Kōmura Masahiko Komura is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2007 to 2008, and he is a member of the House of Representatives for the First District of Yamaguchi Prefecture....	August 27, 2007	September 26, 2007	Shinzō Abe
4		Shigeru Ishiba Shigeru Ishiba Shigeru Ishiba is a Japanese politician. He was Minister of Defense under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008 and was also Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries....	September 26, 2007	August 2, 2008	Yasuo Fukuda Yasuo Fukuda was the 91st Prime Minister of Japan, serving from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving for three and a half years under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori and Junichiro Koizumi....
5		Yoshimasa Hayashi Yoshimasa Hayashi is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, Koga Faction. He is a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet , currently serving his third term in the Upper House representing Yamaguchi Prefecture....	August 2, 2008	September 24, 2008	Yasuo Fukuda
6		Yasukazu Hamada Yasukazu Hamada is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet . A native of Futtsu, Chiba and graduate of Senshu University he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993.In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed...	September 24, 2008	September 16, 2009	Taro Aso Taro Aso was the 92nd Prime Minister of Japan serving from September 2008 to September 2009, and was defeated in the August 2009 election.He has served in the House of Representatives since 1979. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007, and was Secretary-General of the LDP briefly in 2007 and...
7		Toshimi Kitazawa Toshimi Kitazawa is the current Japanese defence minister. He is a politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet . A native of Nagano, Nagano and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1992 after serving in the...	September 16, 2009	September 2, 2011	Yukio Hatoyama Yukio Hatoyama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan.... Naoto Kan Naoto Kan is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...
8		Yasuo Ichikawa Yasuo Ichikawa is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet . A native of Komatsu, Ishikawa and graduate of Mie University, he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 1965 to 1990, and had served in the assembly of Ishikawa...	September 2, 2011	present	Yoshihiko Noda Yoshihiko Noda is the current Prime Minister of Japan, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan , and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet...