September 14, 2023
Kishida takes charge of foreign policy with Kamikawa pick
Japanese PM leans on diplomacy to boost popularity ahead of LDP race
TOKYO -- One of the surprises of the Japanese cabinet reshuffle Wednesday was the switch at the foreign ministry. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the 62-year-old Harvard-educated pianist viewed by some as a potential candidate for prime minister, was replaced by 70-year-old Yoko Kamikawa, a three-time justice minister with little foreign policy experience.
The change of the top diplomat comes just days after Hayashi visited Ukraine, with Japan as president of the Group of Seven, and days before the United Nations General Assembly. "This is not normal," said a retired foreign ministry official. "Hayashi himself must have been taken by surprise," the official said.
According to close observers, there may be three reasons for the move.
Then-Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is applauded by his G7 peers after playing "Imagine" on a replica of John Lennon's piano during a visit to The Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool, Britain in December 2021. (Pool via Reuters)
Kishida sees foreign policy as his domain
In his news conference Wednesday, Kishida made clear that diplomacy is ultimately the responsibility of the prime minister and that he wants to take the reins.
"The foreign minister and defense minister do play significant roles in diplomacy, but at the same time, leader-level diplomacy carries considerable weight," Kishida said, when asked by a reporter why he replaced Hayashi.
"I would like to lead foreign policy," he said.
Foreign policy has been Kishida's strong point in his nearly two years in office, gaining him popular support. When Kishida hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Tokyo in March, the first official bilateral visit in 12 years, 63% of respondents in a Nikkei poll said they supported the meeting, while 21% opposed.
When Kishida hosted the G7 summit in his hometown of Hiroshima, 66% supported his management of the event, while 21% did not.
Most recently, after Kishida visited the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David to meet U.S. President Joe Biden and Yoon, 55% supported the move, while 28% did not.
"It is only natural for the prime minister to play to his foreign policy strengths in the reshuffle," U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel told Nikkei Asia in an interview. "It's what an elected official should do," said Emanuel, who served as chief of staff to U.S. President Barack Obama and also as mayor of Chicago.
"As was seen at the Hiroshima Summit and at Camp David, Prime Minister Kishida sees an improvement in his public standing when he projects Japan on the world stage in a meaningful way and is also aligned with the U.S., especially with President Biden," he said.
The PM wants to weaken rivals' influence at the foreign ministry
Kishida is Japan's longest-serving foreign minister, a post he held under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
While he still wields influence in the ministry, his successors Taro Kono, Toshimitsu Motegi and Hayashi have also made inroads. All three are possible candidates to succeed Kishida as prime minister, so the move to retake the reins of foreign policy could be part of a strategy to weaken his rivals.
Hayashi told Japan's Foreign Correspondents' Club in June that he has hopes of being prime minister.
"I'm learning a lot, being in this position which requires so many decisions almost every day. So maybe doing this job daily, in an earnest way, might be one of the things that I have to do for the next step," he said. Kishida and Hayashi belong to the same faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Well-known news site Samejima Times suggested that Kishida may be holding a grudge against the ministry for leaking the news that his son and then-political secretary Shotaro Kishida used a government vehicle for sightseeing during a Europe visit. Shukan Shincho, a magazine, reported in January that Shotaro used cars owned by the embassy to visit tourist sites in Paris and for shopping at luxury department store Harrod's in London.
Shotaro resigned in the summer after reports of inappropriate partying at the prime minister's official residence -- a major political blow to his father. Kishida's move to install Kamikawa as foreign minister is an attempt to take full control of the ministry and to sideline officials close to Motegi and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, according to Samejima Times.
Kishida sees a safe pair of hands in Kamikawa
Kamikawa has an impressive resume. She graduated from from Tokyo University with a bachelor's degree in international relations, a department that only takes students with the highest grades in the first two years of undergraduate studies.
After joining think tank Mitsubishi Research Institute, she studied at Harvard Kennedy School under Professor Joseph Nye, an academic heavyweight in Asia policy.
She is also a member of the Kishida faction and is said to have been a leading candidate to replace Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno as the administration's No. 2.
Amb. Emanuel gave her high marks.
"Kamikawa Yoko is a very capable and persuasive voice on behalf of our alliance, our shared interests, and our respect for a rules-based order," he said.