| Cabinet Name: | First Abe Cabinet |
| Cabinet Number: | 90th |
| Jurisdiction: | Japan |
| Flag: | Flag of Japan.svg |
| Flag Border: | true |
| Date Formed: | September 26, 2006 |
| Date Dissolved: | September 26, 2007 |
| Government Head: | Shinzo Abe |
| State Head: | Emperor Akihito |
| Political Party: | LDP–NKP Coalition |
| Legislature Status: | HoR: LDP-K Coalition supermajority HoC: LDP-K Coalition majority |
| Election: | 2007 Councillors election |
| Legislature Term: | 172th National Diet |
| Predecessor: | Third Koizumi Cabinet |
| Successor: | Fukuda Cabinet |
The First Abe Cabinet governed Japan under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from September 2006 to September 2007. The government was a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito and controlled both the upper and lower houses of the National Diet.The cabinet faced policy issues regarding government debts and the shrinking population. [1]
At a joint press conference Hakuo Yanagisawa, who was appointed Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, spoke to a number of issues including reform of the Social Insurance Agency, measures against the decline in the birthrate, the unification of the Employees Pension Plan and the Mutual Pension Plan for public servants, and revision of labor-related laws.
At the onset Prime Minister Abe's approval rating was 70%, but dropped to 30% [2] prior to the 2007 House of Councilors election, which resulted in the LDP losing the Upper House to the Democratic Party of Japan and becoming the second party for the first time in its history. Abe subsequently resigned, citing health reasons.[3] Abe was criticized for not explaining his thinking enough to show where Japan was going.
Abe was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993, and by 1999 was serving as Director of the Committee on Health and Welfare, and as Director of the Social Affairs Division of the Liberal Democratic Party. [4] In 2003, Abe was elected Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party, and two years later became Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Abe took office as the first Japanese Prime Minister born in the postwar period.
Abe succeeded Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He maintained Koizumi's emphasis on the U.S.-Japan alliance as the basis of national defense, but he wanted Japan to be a more equal partner. One goal of his administration was to revise Japan's constitution to normalize the use of military force.
| House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Choice | First Vote | ||
| Votes | |||
| Shinzo Abe | |||
| Ichirō Ozawa | |||
| Source | |||
| House of Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Choice | First Vote | ||
| Votes | |||
| Shinzo Abe | |||
| Ichirō Ozawa | |||
| Source | |||
R = Member of the House of Representatives
C = Member of the House of Councillors
Abe announced his Cabinet on September 26, 2006. The largest Mori faction in the Liberal Democratic Party received the most appointments.
| Prime Minister | R | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007 | |||
| Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Minister of State for Decentralization Reform Minister of State for Privatization of the Postal Services | R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | ||||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Tarō Asō | R | October 31, 2005 – August 27, 2007 | ||
| Minister of Finance | R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| R | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007 | ||||
| R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | ||||
| Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | C | September 26, 2006 – May 28, 2007 | |||
| Masatoshi Wakabayashi | C | May 28, 2007 – June 1, 2007 | |||
| Norihiko Akagi | R | June 1, 2007 – August 1, 2007 | |||
| Masatoshi Wakabayashi | C | August 1, 2007 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| R | September 26, 2006 – August 2, 2008 | ||||
| Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister for Ocean Policy | R | September 26, 2006 – August 2, 2008 | |||
| Minister of the Environment Minister in Charge of Global Environmental Problems | C | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| R | January 9, 2007 – July 4, 2007 | ||||
| R | July 4, 2007 – August 27, 2007 | ||||
| R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | ||||
| Minister of State, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister of State for Disaster Management | C | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Minister of State for Innovation Minister of State for Gender Equality Minister of State for Social Affairs and Food Safety | R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State for Financial Services | R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy | – | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State for Regulatory Reform | Genichiro Sata | R | September 26, 2006 – December 28, 2006 | ||
| Yoshimi Watanabe | R | December 28, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| Deputy Secretaries | |||||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs - House of Representatives) | R | September 26, 2006 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs - House of Councillors) | C | October 31, 2005 – August 27, 2007 | |||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) | Junzo Sotoba | – | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007 | ||
| Prime Minister | R | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2006 | |||
| Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Minister of State for Decentralization Reform Minister of State for Correcting Regional Disparities Minister of State for Regional Government (doshu-sei) Minister of State for Privatization of the Postal Services | – | August 27, 2007 – September 24, 2008 | |||
| R | August 27, 2007 – August 2, 2008 | ||||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Nobutaka Machimura | R | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2007 | ||
| Minister of Finance | R | August 27, 2007 – August 2, 2008 | |||
| R | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007 | ||||
| C | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2009 | ||||
| Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | R | August 27, 2007 – September 3, 2007 | |||
| Masatoshi Wakabayashi | C | September 3, 2007 – August 2, 2008 | |||
| R | September 26, 2006 – August 2, 2008 | ||||
| Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister for Ocean Policy | R | September 26, 2006 – August 2, 2008 | |||
| Minister of the Environment Minister in Charge of Global Environmental Problems | R | August 27, 2007 – August 2, 2008 | |||
| R | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2007 | ||||
| Chief Cabinet Secretary Minister of State for the Abduction Issue | R | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Minister of State for Disaster Management and Food Safety | C | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Minister of State for Quality-of-Life Policy Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Minister of State for "Challenge Again" Initiative Minister of State for Regulatory Reform | R | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2007 | |||
| Minister of State for Financial Services and Administrative Reform | R | August 27, 2007 – September 24, 2008 | |||
| Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy | – | September 26, 2006 – September 24, 2008 | |||
| Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs | Yōko Kamikawa | R | September 26, 2006 – September 24, 2008 | ||
| Deputy Secretaries | |||||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs - House of Representatives) | R | August 27, 2007 – September 26, 2007 | |||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Political Affairs - House of Councillors) | C | August 27, 2007 – September 24, 2008 | |||
| Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Bureaucrat) | Junzo Sotoba | – | September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007 | ||
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