Fumio Kishida Biography

On July 29, 1957, Fumio Kishida was born in Tokyo, Japan in Shibuya.

Family Fumio Kishida:

He came from a family with political influence. Masaki Kishida and Fumitake Kishida who were his father and grandfather respectively were both members of the Japanese House of Representatives which had a significant impact on his political career.

His family has lived in Hiroshima for a long time, a city that has shaped his life as well as political ideology particularly regarding peace and nuclear non-proliferation matters.

Education:

When he was six years old, because of his father’s job move, they shifted to New York City where he went to P.S. 013 Clement C. Moore . He also attended Kojimachi Elementary School and Kojimachi High School. While at Kaisei Academy , he played on their baseball team before graduating.

Training:

Later on, he applied for Waseda University where he obtained a degree in Law by the year 1982. His training at Waseda University is critical for him because it was during this time when Fumio Kishida began forming important relationships that helped shape their politics over the years.

Beginnings:

Fumio initiated his work at Industrial Bank of Japan (now Mizuho Financial Group) working in diverse departments thus acquiring experience in finance and economics; nevertheless his calling towards politics made him leave the bank so that he can follow in the footsteps of his father along with grandfather.

Masahiko Komura became an essential mentor to him when Kishida started serving as secretary to Japanese House of Representatives member Masahiko Komura in 1987.

Political Career of Fumio:

In 1993, Kishida was elected for the 1st time to the House of Representatives and he has since then held onto this position. He took some very important positions in the Japanese government over his career.

He became Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs , and later, Minister of State for Regulatory Reform , where he earned a name for himself in deregulating as well as modernizing many spheres.

In 2012, he became Foreign Minister , a role that lasted until 2017. In this period, Kishida played a major role in enhancing Japan’s ties with the USA as well as other allied states, while addressing regional security issues. His biggest achievement was the negotiation of the Japan-United States Security Cooperation Agreement that further bolstered bilateral relations between the two.

Prime Minister of Japan:

On October 4th, 2021 Fumio Kishida began serving as Prime Minister of Japan after Yoshihide Suga. He became head of the liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in that year because he is seen as someone who can unite different factions within the party due to his reputation for building consensus.

His approach involves what he terms “New Capitalism ,” an economic model that tries to strike a balance between wealth distribution and social protection while at the same time promoting economic growth. Furthermore, he highlighted regional security matters especially considering threats from North Korea and China’s increasing influence. Moreover, he supports nuclear disarmament because it is a matter close to his heart given that Hiroshima is his homeland .

Among them are such challenges as managing Covid-19 pandemic; economic revival; stabilizing foreign policy under conditions of growing global volatility.

Dissolution of the Unification Church:

The demise of Shinzo Abe was followed by dissolution of the Unification Church (UC) in Japan in 2022 as well as dissolution Kochikai, Seiwakai (party wide corruption scandal) & Shisui Kai due to treating water discharged into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima nuclear plant in 2023.

The first reshuffling of his cabinet took place by him in august 2022, whereby he axed all UC affiliates and then in September 2023 when the ratings were dwindling down.

He continued to focus on developing the Quad Security Dialogue and forging closer ties with NATO as part of supporting the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy. He also signed a trilateral agreement with South Korea and Japan, establishing security agreements with Australia, UK, Philippines.

He made efforts to improve relations with South Korea without apologizing for Japanese imperialistic activities in the past. Instructing his cabinet members to boost Japan’s military budget at a rate of 65% by 2027 was among his decisions during 2022.

Assassination Attempt:

During a speech while campaigning on April 15th, 2023 there was an attempted assassination. He is a member of far-right ultranationalist historical revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi even though he belongs to a somewhat moderate faction within his party .

Private Life:

In an arranged marriage he got married in1998 to Yuko Kishidaa who was the daughter of a Japanese realtor. Together they have three children.

In the month of May 2023, Fumio Kishida fired his eldest son, Shotaro Kishida who was also working as the head of a policy secretariat office for theft of government property when it came out that he staged parties at their house and faked being prime minister in some pictures taken.

He is fond of reading books, especially Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga volumes and also likes Hiroshima Toyo Carp BaseBall Team.

Rundown:

A member of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), Japan’s Prime Minister since October 2021. He has held various posts including foreign minister during his time in politics. Under his leadership, Japan has beefed up its international alliances and significantly increased its military expenditure to counter global challenges. The assassination attempt on him as he gave a campaign address on April 15th, 2023 was unsuccessful.

Do you know…

Kishida played a critical role in coordinating President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016.

Charges:

• Prime Minister of Japan
  Since October 4, 2021
  
  
• Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party
  Since September 29, 2021
  
  
• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan
  December 26, 2012 – August 3, 2017
  
  
• Minister of Defense of Japan
  July 28, 2017 – August 3, 2017
  
  
• Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs of Japan
  August 26, 2007 – August 2, 2008
  
  
• Member of the House of Representatives of Japan from Hiroshima
  Since July 18, 1993

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