The is an
executive department
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state.
In political systems ba ...
of the
Government of Japan
The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...
, and is responsible for the country's
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
and
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
.
The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organization Act, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Establishment Act. According to the law, the mission of the ministry is "to aim at improvement of the profits of Japan and Japanese nationals, while contributing to maintenance of peaceful and safe international society, and, through an active and eager measure, both to implement good international environment and to keep and develop harmonic foreign relationships".
Policy formulation
Under the
1947 constitution, the
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
exercises primary responsibility for the conduct of foreign affairs, subject to the overall supervision of the
National Diet
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...
. The
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
is required to make periodic reports on foreign relations to the Diet, whose
upper and
lower houses
Lower may refer to:
*Lower (surname)
*Lower Township, New Jersey
*Lower Receiver (firearms)
*Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England
See also
*Nizhny
Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́ ...
each have a foreign affairs committee. Each committee reports on its deliberations to plenary sessions of the chamber to which it belongs. Ad hoc committees are formed occasionally to consider special questions. Diet members have the right to raise pertinent policy questions—officially termed interpellations—to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
and the Prime Minister. Treaties with foreign countries require ratification by the Diet. As head of state, the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
performs the ceremonial function of receiving foreign envoys and attesting to foreign treaties ratified by the Diet.
As the chief executive and constitutionally the dominant figure in the political system, the Prime Minister has the final word in major foreign policy decisions. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, a member of the cabinet, acts as the Prime Minister's chief adviser in matters of planning and implementation. The Minister is assisted by two vice ministers: one in charge of administration, who was at the apex of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs structure as its senior career official, and the other in charge of political liaison with the Diet. Other key positions in the ministry include members of the ministry's Secretariat, which has divisions handling consular, emigration, communications, and cultural exchange functions, and the directors of the various regional and functional bureaus in the ministry.
The ministry's staff includes an elite career foreign service corps, recruited on the basis of a competitive examination and thereafter trained by the ministry's Foreign Service Training Institute. The handling of specific foreign policy issues is usually divided between the geographic and functional bureaus to minimize overlap and competition. In general, bilateral issues are assigned to the geographic bureaus, and multilateral problems to the functional bureaus. The Treaties Bureau, with its wide-ranging responsibilities, tend to get involved in the whole spectrum of issues. The Information Analysis, Research, and Planning Bureau engages in comprehensive and coordinated policy investigation and planning.
Long a profession of high social prestige, diplomatic service from the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
through
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was a preserve of the upper social strata. In addition to formal qualifications, important prewar requirements for admission were proper social origin, family connections, and graduation from
Tokyo Imperial University
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
(the present-day
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
). After World War II, these requirements were changed as part of democratic reform measures but foreign service continued to be a highly regarded career. Most career foreign service officers had passed the postwar Higher Foreign Service Examination before entry into the service. Many of these successful examinees were graduates of the prestigious
Law Faculty of the University of Tokyo. Almost all ambassadorial appointments since the 1950s have been made from among veteran diplomats.
Diplomacy in postwar Japan was not a monopoly of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Given the overriding importance of economic factors in foreign relations, the ministry worked closely with the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
on matters of customs, tariffs, international finance, and foreign aid; with the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry
The was a ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and di ...
(MITI) on exports and imports; and with the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries on questions of foreign agricultural imports and fishing rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also consulted other agencies, such as the
Defense Agency
The is an executive department of the Government of Japan responsible for preserving the peace and independence of Japan, and maintaining the country’s national security and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
The ministry is headed by the ...
, the
Fair Trade Commission, the
Japan Export-Import Bank
The , JBIC, is a Japanese public financial institution and export credit agency that was created on October 1, 1999, through the merger of the Japan Export-Import Bank (JEXIM) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF).
JBIC became the in ...
(JEXIM), the Japan External Trade Organization (
JETRO
is an Independent Administrative Institution established by Japan Export Trade Research Organization as a nonprofit corporation in Osaka in February 1952, reorganized under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in 1958 (later the ...
), the
Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, and the
Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency
Overseas may refer to:
* ''Overseas'' (album), a 1957 album by pianist Tommy Flanagan and his trio
*Overseas (band), an American indie rock band
* "Overseas" (song), a 2018 song by American rappers Desiigner and Lil Pump
* "Overseas" (Tee Grizzley ...
. On many issues affecting the country's foreign economic activities—and thus its diplomatic relations as well—the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sometimes MITI and the Ministry of Finance were known to favor liberalizing import restrictions. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries and other domestic ministries, however, took a more
protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
stand, evidently because of pressures from special interest groups.
The vital importance of foreign affairs expanded to affect virtually every aspect of national life in postwar Japan, and the multiplicity of agencies involved in external affairs continued to be a source of confusion and inefficiency in the formulation of foreign policy. Yet as the postwar generation of leaders and policymakers began to assume a greater role in government decision making and as public attitudes on foreign policy issues matured, there were indications that foreign affairs were being conducted on the basis of a more stable consensus.
The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is
Yoshimasa Hayashi
is a Japanese politician who currently serves as Minister for Foreign Affairs since November 2021. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he also serves in the House of Representatives for the Yamaguchi 3rd district since 2021.
Early life ...
.
Diplomatic Bluebook
The is an annual report produced by the Ministry outlining the government's foreign policy and assessment of international political trends. The
Bluebook
''The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation'' is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. It is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools and is also used in a majority of federal ...
was first issued in 1957. The report can trigger reactions from other countries upset with relevant Japanese policy. For instance, the omission of the phrase "South Korea is our most important neighbor" and the addition of "South Korea's occupation of
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Main branches
*Minister's Secretariat
*Chief of Protocol
*Press Secretary / Director-General for Press and Public Relations
*Public Diplomacy Department
*Foreign Policy Bureau
*Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department
*Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
*Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department
*North American Affairs Bureau
*Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau
*European Affairs Bureau
*Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau
*Director-General for Sub-Saharan African Affairs
*Economic Affairs Bureau
*International Cooperation Bureau
*Director-General for Global Issues
*International Legal Affairs Bureau
*Consular Affairs Bureau
*Intelligence and Analysis Service
*Foreign Service Training Institute
See also
*List of diplomatic missions in Japan
*List of diplomatic missions of Japan
*Foreign policy of Japan
*Foreign relations of Japan
*Gaikoku bugyō
*Katsuhiko Oku
*International child abduction in Japan
References
*
Japan* ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese–English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991,
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (Japan)
Foreign relations of Japan
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
Foreign Affairs
''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
Japan, Foreign Affairs
1947 establishments in Japan