Premiership of Fumio Kishida

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.