Who is the leader of the country?

- The leader of Japanese people or the country of Japan is Prime Minister Yoshihide
Suga, he is the current Prime Minister of Japan since September 2020. Yoshihide
Suga is the right hand man of the former Prime Minister Shinzo abe for the last 8
years. Yoshihide Suga replaced Shinzo Abe (former Prime Minister of Japan) due to
health concerns. He is also a longtime Chief Cabinet Secretary during Shinzo Abe’s
term as a Prime Minister, (Gunia, 2020). Aside from being a Prime Minister,
Yoshihide Suga also became the leader of the Political party, Liberal Democratic
Party of Japan (LDP) in which where he belongs, (Britannica, n.d.)

What is their Title?

- Yoshihide Suga is the Prime Minister of Japan, in which the Prime minister is the
Head of government of Japan. The Prime Minister of Japan is also the chief executive
of the National cabinet, the Prime Minister can appoint and also dismiss cabinet
members or ministers in the Japanese government. The Prime Minister of Japan is
ultimately accountable to the people of the nation. Prime Minister also shares
responsibility with all the members of the cabinet, however they will not answer
directly to the people, but rather to the legislative branch also known as the national
diet, (web-japan.org, n.d.)

- If the legislative branch or the national diet cease to support the cabinet or the
Prime Minister at anytime, either the members of the cabinet also including the
Prime Minister must resign to their office, or the Prime Minister must call a general
election. This system is designed to avoid any single individual in the government
from having great/ absolute power, (web-japan-org, n.d.)

- The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party and also as the Head of
Government of Japan in order to help him direct the government, the prime minister
must form a cabinet made up of people who are his/her political allies, or part of
his/her political party, (afe.easia.columbia.edu, 2021)

- The Prime Minister of Japan is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Self
Defense Force (JSDF) which consist the land, air and naval force.

How are they chosen?

- The Japanese Prime Minister are elected and designated by both houses of the
national diet or diet. After being elected by the national diet (legislature) they are
formally appointed by the emperor of Japan ( Emperor Naruhito), (britannica, n.d.).
In accordance to the 1947 constitution of Japan, Article 6 of the said constitution has
vested the emperor the power to appoint the Prime Minister after it was designated
by the diet or the legislature (japan.kantei.go.jp, n.d.)
- According to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, Article 67 of the said constitution it
says that “The Prime Minister shall be designated from among the members of the
diet. If both the House of the Representatives and the House of Councillors disagree
and if no agreement can be reached even through a joint session/committee of both
houses or if the House of Counsillors fails to make a designation within ten (10) days,
The decision of the lower House or the House of Representatives shall be the
decision of the diet, (japan.kantei.go.jp, n.d.)

How long they have been in power?

- Under Article 69 of the 1947 Constitution it doesn’t state in the said constitution
the term of limits of the Prime Minister. The basis of their term is when a vote of no-
confidence passes the House of the Representatives or if a resolution or a confidence
vote is rejected its up for the Prime Minister if either he will dissolve lower house
within 10 days or the Prime Minister will resign together with his or her cabinet
members or ministers, (web-japan.org, n.d.)

-Under the 1947 Constitution it says that the Prime Minister be a member of the diet
(legislature) and be designed or elected by diet resolution after receiving a majority
of votes cast in a diet election. A new Prime Minister must be appointed by the
emperor, although that is a formality, (web-japan.org, n.d.)

- In case of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who took office in 2012 and
became “Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister or leader, he served 8 years as a
Prime Minister of Japan before he set to leave his office in September 2021, which
marked the end of his third three year term, as a Prime Minister and as a president
of Japan’s governing LDP, (Dooley, 2020).

What party do they represent?

- The former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the current Prime Minister
Yoshihide Suga both represents ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) which
is generally conservative and business dominant force and party in the government
of Japan for most of the period since its founding in the mid 1950’s, (britannica,
n.d.).

- Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) is the Japan’s largest Political party, which
has held power continuously since its foundation in 1955. The LDP generally worked
closely wit business interests and followed a Pro-US foreign policy. Having a four
decades uninterrupted power (1955 - 93), the party oversaw Japan’s remarkable
recovery from Second World War and also its development into Economic Super
Power. The party retained control of the government from mid-1990’s, exception on
2009-2012 when the DPJ was in power, (britannica, n.d.)

When is the next election?

- According to Berkeley, (2021) from Japan times, when president Yoshihide Suga
insisted that “Our priority is the fight against covid-19 pandemic” in response to a
question about when he planned to dissolve parliament.