Minister of Defense (Japan)
| Minister of Defense of Japan | |
|---|---|
Standard of the Minister of Defence
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| Ministry of Defense | |
| Style | Her Excellency |
| Member of | Cabinet |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister |
| Appointer | The Prime Minister |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Inaugural holder | Fumio Kyuma |
| Formation | 9 January 2007 |
| Deputy | Vice Minister of Defense |
| Website | www.mod.go.jp |
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The Minister of Defense (防衛大臣 Bōei Daijin?), or Bōei-shō (防衛相?), is the Cabinet of Japan member in charge of the Ministry of Defense, known as the Defense Agency before 2007. The current Japanese Minister of Defense is Tomomi Inada.
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.
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 and the new Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma. 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.
In July 1970, Director General of the Defense Agency Yasuhiro Nakasone established five directives for the defense industry:
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