Junichiro Koizumi in the context of "Shinjirō Koizumi"

Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese statesman who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, serving for nearly nine years.

Born in Tokyo, Abe was a member of the Satō–Kishi–Abe family as the son of LDP politician Shintaro Abe and grandson of prime minister Nobusuke Kishi. He graduated from Seikei University and attended the University of Southern California before working in industry and party posts, and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993. Abe was LDP secretary-general from 2003 to 2004 and Chief Cabinet Secretary under Junichiro Koizumi from 2005 to 2006, when he replaced Koizumi as prime minister. Abe became Japan's youngest post-war premier, and the first born after World War II. A staunch conservative and member of the Nippon Kaigi organization, which holds negationist views on Japanese history, Abe took right-wing stances including downplaying atrocities in textbooks, denying government coercion in the recruitment of comfort women during the war, and seeking revision of Article 9 of the Constitution. In 2007, he initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with the US, Australia, and India, aimed at resisting China's rise as a superpower. He resigned as premier that year due to his government's unpopularity and illness.

Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2024 until his resignation in 2025. He has represented Tottori 1st in the House of Representatives since 1996. Before his premiership, he was the Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2008 to 2009, as well as secretary-general of the LDP from 2012 to 2014.

Born into the Ishiba political family in Tokyo, Ishiba graduated from Keio University in 1979. Prior entering politics after his father's death, Ishiba worked at a bank before being elected to the House of Representatives in the 1986 general election as a member of the LDP at the age of 29. As a Diet member, Ishiba specialized in agricultural policy and defense policy. He served as parliamentary vice minister of agriculture under the premiership of Kiichi Miyazawa, but left the LDP in 1993 to join the Japan Renewal Party. After transitioning through several parties and returning to the LDP in 1997, Ishiba held various prominent positions, including Director-General of the Defense Agency under the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, Minister of Defense under the premiership of Yasuo Fukuda and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under the premiership of Tarō Asō.

The minister for foreign affairs (外務大臣, Gaimu Daijin) is a member of the cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The minister is responsible for implementing Japan's foreign policy and is also a statutory member of the National Security Council. The minister is nominated by the prime minister and is appointed by the emperor of Japan.

Since the end of the allied occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on foreign relations. The recent efforts of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe to establish a more interventionist foreign policy have also heightened the importance of the position.

Naoto Kan (菅 直人, Kan Naoto; born 10 October 1946) is a Japanese former politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011.

Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for more than one year, with his predecessors Yukio Hatoyama, Tarō Asō, Yasuo Fukuda, and Shinzo Abe either resigning prematurely or losing an election. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation. Yoshihiko Noda was elected as his successor.

Yasuo Fukuda (福田 康夫, Fukuda Yasuo; born 16 July 1936) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori and Junichiro Koizumi. His record was surpassed by Yoshihide Suga, who served almost twice as long.

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Fukuda was elected as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and became prime minister in September 2007. Fukuda was the first son of a former Japanese Prime Minister (Takeo Fukuda) to also take up the post. On 1 September 2008, Fukuda announced his resignation as party leader, and was succeeded by Tarō Asō. Although Japan hosted the G8 summit meeting without mishap during Fukuda's time in office, he himself earned little or no credit from ordinary Japanese, and when he resigned, he became the first of the G8 leaders to leave office.