Minister of Finance (Japan)

The Minister of Finance (財務大臣, Zaimu Daijin) is the member of the Cabinet of Japan in charge of the Ministry of Finance. This position was formerly cited as being Japan's most powerful and one of the world's, because Japan had historically held the largest foreign exchange reserves. It seems that title has been passed to Bank of Japan governors, due to Japan's position as the world's largest and lowest rate creditor.

Until 2001, the position was known in Japanese literally as "Treasury Minister" (大蔵大臣, Ōkura Daijin), but the English name was "Minister of Finance" both before and after the name change in Japanese.

List of ministers

Prewar (1900–1946)

#	Name	Took office	Left office
1	Watanabe Kunitake	1900	1901
2	Saionji Kinmochi	1901	1901
3	Sone Arasuke	1901	1906
4	Yoshiro Sakatani	1906	1908
5	Masahisa Matsuda	1908	1908
6	Katsura Tarō	1908	1911
7	Yamamoto Tatsuo	1911	1912
8	Wakatsuki Reijirō (1st)	1912	1913
9	Takahashi Korekiyo (1st)	1913	1914
8	Wakatsuki Reijirō (2nd)	1914	1915
10	Taketomi Tokitoshi	1915	1916
11	Terauchi Masatake	1916	1916
12	Kazue Shōda (1st)	1916	1918
9	Takahashi Korekiyo (2nd)	1918	1922
13	Otohiko Ichiki	1922	1923
14	Junnosuke Inoue (1st)	1923	1924
12	Kazue Shōda (2nd)	1924	1924
15	Osachi Hamaguchi	1924	1925
16	Seiji Hayami	1925	1925
17	Kataoka Naoharu	1925	1927
9	Takahashi Korekiyo (3rd)	1927	1927
18	Chuzo Mitsuchi	1927	1929
14	Junnosuke Inoue (2nd)	1929	1931
9	Takahashi Korekiyo (4th)	1931	1934
19	Sadanobu Fujii	1934	1934
9	Takahashi Korekiyo (5th)	1934	1936
20	Machida Chūji	1936	1936
21	Eiichi Baba	1936	1937
22	Toyotaro Yuki^[1]	1937	1937
23	Okinori Kaya (1st)	1937	1938
24	Shigeaki Ikeda	1938	1939
25	Sotaro Ishiwata (1st)	1939	1939
26	Kazuo Aoki	1939	1940
27	Yukio Sakurauchi	1940	1940
28	Isao Kawada	1940	1941
29	Masatsune Ogura	1941	1941
23	Okinori Kaya (2nd)	1941	1944
25	Sotaro Ishiwata (2nd)	1944	1945
30	Juichi Tsushima	1945	1945
31	Keizō Shibusawa	1945	1946

Postwar (1946–present)

  Liberal (1945)
  Socialist
  Ryokufūkai
  Democratic (1947)
  Democratic Liberal
  Liberal (1950)
  Independent
  Democratic (1954)
  Liberal Democratic
  Japan New Party
  New Party Sakigake
  Japan Renewal Party
  Democratic

Finance Minister			Term of office			Prime Minister
#	Portrait	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Days	Prime Minister
32	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)/meta/color" \|	Tanzan Ishibashi	May 22, 1946	May 24, 1947	367	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)/meta/color" \|	Shigeru Yoshida
-	style="background-color: Template:Japan Socialist Party/meta/color" \|	Tetsu Katayama (Acting)	May 24, 1947	June 1, 1947	8	style="background-color: Template:Japan Socialist Party/meta/color" rowspan=3\|	Tetsu Katayama
33		Shōtarō Yano	June 1, 1947	June 25, 1947	24
34	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)/meta/color" \|	Takeo Kurusu	June 25, 1947	March 10, 1948	259
35	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)/meta/color" \|	Tokutarō Kitamura	March 10, 1948	October 15, 1948	223	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)/meta/color" \|	Hitoshi Ashida
36	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Liberal Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Sanroku Izumiyama	October 19, 1948	December 14, 1948	56	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Liberal Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=3\|	Shigeru Yoshida
37	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Liberal Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Shinzō Ōya (Interim)	December 14, 1948	February 16, 1949	64
38	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Liberal Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Hayato Ikeda	February 16, 1949	October 30, 1952	1352
38	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)/meta/color" \|	Hayato Ikeda	February 16, 1949	October 30, 1952	1352	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)/meta/color" rowspan=3\|
39	style="background-color: Template:Independent/meta/color" \|	Tadaharu Mukai	October 30, 1952	May 21, 1953	203
40	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)/meta/color" \|	Sankurō Ogasawara	May 21, 1953	December 10, 1954	568
41	style="background-color: Template:Japan Democratic Party (1954)/meta/color" \|	Hisato Ichimada	December 10, 1954	November 22, 1955	744	style="background-color: Template:Japan Democratic Party (1954)/meta/color" \|	Ichirō Hatoyama
41	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Hisato Ichimada	November 22, 1955	December 23, 1956	744	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Ichirō Hatoyama
(38)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Hayato Ikeda	December 23, 1956	July 10, 1957	199	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Tanzan Ishibashi
(38)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=3\|	Hayato Ikeda	December 23, 1956	July 10, 1957	199	Nobusuke Kishi
(41)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Hisato Ichimada	July 10, 1957	June 12, 1958	337
42	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Eisaku Satō	June 12, 1958	July 19, 1960	768
43	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Mikio Mizuta	July 19, 1960	July 18, 1962	729	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Hayato Ikeda
44	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Kakuei Tanaka	July 18, 1962	June 3, 1965	1051		Hayato Ikeda
44	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=5\|	Kakuei Tanaka	July 18, 1962	June 3, 1965	1051	Eisaku Satō
45	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Takeo Fukuda	June 3, 1965	December 3, 1966	548
(43)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Mikio Mizuta	December 3, 1966	November 30, 1968	728
(45)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Takeo Fukuda	November 30, 1968	July 5, 1971	947
(43)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Mikio Mizuta	July 5, 1971	July 7, 1972	368
46	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Koshiro Ueki	July 7, 1972	December 22, 1972	168	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=4\|	Kakuei Tanaka
47	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Kiichi Aichi	December 22, 1972	November 23, 1973	336
(45)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Takeo Fukuda	November 25, 1973	July 16, 1974	233
48	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Masayoshi Ōhira	July 16, 1974	December 24, 1976	892
48	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Masayoshi Ōhira	July 16, 1974	December 24, 1976	892	Takeo Miki
49	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Hideo Bo	December 24, 1976	November 28, 1977	339	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Takeo Fukuda
50	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Tatsuo Murayama	November 28, 1977	December 7, 1978	374		Takeo Fukuda
51	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Ippei Kaneko	December 7, 1978	November 9, 1979	337	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Masayoshi Ōhira
52	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Noboru Takeshita	November 9, 1979	July 17, 1980	251		Masayoshi Ōhira
53	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Michio Watanabe	July 17, 1980	November 27, 1982	863	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Zenkō Suzuki
(52)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Noboru Takeshita	November 27, 1982	July 22, 1986	1333	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Yasuhiro Nakasone
54	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Kiichi Miyazawa	July 22, 1986	December 9, 1988	871		Yasuhiro Nakasone
54	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=3\|	Kiichi Miyazawa	July 22, 1986	December 9, 1988	871	Noboru Takeshita
(52)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Noboru Takeshita (Acting)	December 9, 1988	December 27, 1988	18
(50)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Tatsuo Murayama	December 27, 1988	August 10, 1989	226
(50)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Tatsuo Murayama	December 27, 1988	August 10, 1989	226	Sosuke Uno
55	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Ryutaro Hashimoto	August 10, 1989	October 14, 1991	795	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Toshiki Kaifu
-	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Toshiki Kaifu (Acting)	October 14, 1991	November 5, 1991	22		Toshiki Kaifu
56	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Tsutomu Hata	November 5, 1991	December 12, 1992	403	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Kiichi Miyazawa
57	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Yoshiro Hayashi	December 12, 1992	August 9, 1993	240		Kiichi Miyazawa
58	style="background-color: Template:Japan Renewal Party/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Hirohisa Fujii	August 9, 1993	June 30, 1994	325	style="background-color: Template:Japan New Party/meta/color" \|	Morihiro Hosokawa
58	style="background-color: Template:Japan Renewal Party/meta/color" \|	Hirohisa Fujii	August 9, 1993	June 30, 1994	325	Tsutomu Hata
59	style="background-color: Template:New Party Sakigake/meta/color" \|	Masayoshi Takemura	June 30, 1994	January 11, 1996	560	style="background-color: Template:Japan Socialist Party/meta/color" \|	Tomiichi Murayama
60	style="background-color: Template:Japan Socialist Party/meta/color" \|	Wataru Kubo	January 11, 1996	November 7, 1996	301	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=3\|	Ryutaro Hashimoto
61	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Hiroshi Mitsuzuka	November 7, 1996	January 28, 1998	447
62	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Hikaru Matsunaga	January 30, 1998	July 30, 1998	181
(54)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Kiichi Miyazawa	July 30, 1998	April 26, 2001	1001	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Keizo Obuchi
(54)	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Kiichi Miyazawa	July 30, 1998	April 26, 2001	1001	Yoshirō Mori
63	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Masajuro Shiokawa	April 26, 2001	September 22, 2003	879	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Junichiro Koizumi
64	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Sadakazu Tanigaki	September 22, 2003	September 26, 2006	1100		Junichiro Koizumi
65	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Kōji Omi	September 26, 2006	August 27, 2007	335	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Shinzō Abe
66	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Fukushiro Nukaga	August 27, 2007	August 1, 2008	340		Shinzō Abe
66	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Fukushiro Nukaga	August 27, 2007	August 1, 2008	340	Yasuo Fukuda
67	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Bunmei Ibuki	August 1, 2008	September 24, 2008	54	Yasuo Fukuda
68	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Shōichi Nakagawa	September 24, 2008	February 18, 2009	147	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Taro Aso
69	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Kaoru Yosano	February 18, 2009	September 16, 2009	210		Taro Aso
(58)	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" \|	Hirohisa Fujii	September 16, 2009	January 6, 2010	112	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Yukio Hatoyama
70	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" \|	Naoto Kan	January 6, 2010	June 8, 2010	153		Yukio Hatoyama
71	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" \|	Yoshihiko Noda	June 8, 2010	September 2, 2011	451	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" \|	Naoto Kan
72	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" \|	Jun Azumi	September 2, 2011	October 1, 2012	395	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" rowspan=2\|	Yoshihiko Noda
73	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Party of Japan/meta/color" \|	Koriki Jojima	October 1, 2012	December 26, 2012	86		Yoshihiko Noda
74	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Tarō Asō	December 26, 2012	Incumbent	4171	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)/meta/color" \|	Shinzō Abe

References

^ Fuji Ginkō. (1967). Banking in modern Japan, p. 125.

[1] Fuji Ginkō. (1967). Banking in modern Japan, p. 125.

[1]

v t e Finance Ministers of Japan
Minister of Finance (大蔵卿, Ōkura-kyō) under the Daijōkan system of the Meiji Government	Matsudaira Date Ōkubo Ōkuma Sano Matsukata
Minister of Finance (大蔵大臣, Ōkura Daijin) under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan	Matsukata Watanabe Matsukata Watanabe Matsukata Inoue Matsuda Matsukata Watanabe Saionji Sone Sakatani Matsuda Katsura Yamamoto Wakatsuki Takahashi Wakatsuki Taketomi Terauchi Shōda Takahashi Ichiki Inoue Shōda Hamaguchi Hayami Naoharu Takahashi Mitsuchi Inoue Takahashi Fujii Takahashi Machida Baba Yūki Kaya Ikeda Ishiwata Aoki Sakurauchi Kawada Ogura Kaya Ishiwata Tsushima Hirose Tsushima Shibusawa Ishibashi
Minister of Finance (大蔵大臣, Ōkura Daijin) under the Constitution of Japan	Katayama Yano Kurusu Kitamura Yoshida Izumiyama Ōya Ikeda Mukai Ogasawara Ichimanda Ikeda Ichimanda Satō Mizuta Tanaka Fukuda Mizuta Fukuda Mizuta Ueki Aichi Tanaka Fukuda Ōhira Bō Murayama Kaneko Takeshita Watanabe Takeshita Miyazawa Takeshita Murayama Hashimoto Kaifu Hata Hayashi Fujii Takemura Kubo Mitsuzuka Matsunaga Miyazawa
Minister of Finance (財務大臣, Zaimu Daijin)	Miyazawa Shiokawa Tanigaki Omi Nukaga Ibuki Nakagawa Yosano Fujii Kan Noda Azumi Jojima Asō Suzuki
Italics denote acting Ministers of Finance

v t e Japanese government ministries and agencies
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Board of Audit (constitutionally independent)