Minoru Kihara Acting Foreign Minister During Motegi's Overseas Trip

The government has designated Minister of State Minoru Kihara to temporarily perform the duties of the Minister for Foreign Affairs during the absence of Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi on an overseas trip, pursuant to the provisions of Article 10 of the Cabinet Act. The designation date was November 8, and it was officially announced in the “Personnel Changes” section of the Cabinet column in the Official Gazette dated November 11, Reiwa 8, as “Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs / Minister of State Minoru Kihara.”

Article 10 of the Cabinet Act is the provision that determines the execution of duties when a Minister of State is incapacitated or the position is vacant; it serves as the basis for another Minister of State to temporarily act on their behalf while the head of a ministry is absent. This personnel appointment officially demonstrates, through the personnel section of the Official Gazette, the system in which the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is temporarily replaced under the Sanae Takaichi Cabinet.

Details of Designation and Framework of Public Notice

The entry in the Official Gazette takes a concise format that presents the acting official, the legal basis, and the designation date as a single unit. The contents announced this time are as follows:

• Title: Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Name: Minister of State Minoru Kihara
• Basis: Article 10 of the Cabinet Act (During the absence of Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi on an overseas trip)
• Designation Date: November 8
• Public Notice: Official Gazette dated November 11, Reiwa 8, “Personnel Changes” (Cabinet)

The personnel changes column serves to announce the appointments and designations of various ministries and agencies in the pages of the Official Gazette; while it does not promulgate the delivery of the appointment order itself, it serves as the official record of personnel changes with external legal effect.

Execution of Duties Already Under Cabinet Order Promulgated on the Same Day

The designation of the acting official is not merely formal, but manifests as concrete execution of duties in the form of signatures. In the Official Gazette of the same date, Cabinet Order No. 348, “Cabinet Order to Partially Amend the Cabinet Order Concerning the Establishment of the International Peace Cooperation Force for the Sinai Peninsula, etc.” was published, and the name “Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State Minoru Kihara” is listed in the signature column for promulgation alongside Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

This Cabinet Order is based on Article 5, Paragraph 8 and Article 17, Paragraph 2 of the Act on Cooperation with United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, etc. (Act No. 79 of 1992). It amends the establishment deadline of the force from “November 30, Reiwa 8” to “November 30, Reiwa 9,” and removes area designations such as “and South Sinai Governorate” from the appended table. It shall come into effect from the date of promulgation.

Similar signatures can be confirmed in ministerial ordinances related to foreign exchange and diplomatic missions. In Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ordinance No. 24 (Partial Amendment to the Rule Concerning the Application of the Grade of Training Allowance Based on Article 35 of the Act on the Names and Locations of Diplomatic Missions and the Salaries of Foreign Service Officers Working in Diplomatic Missions), promulgated on October 30, Minoru Kihara also signed as the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Recurring Temporary Acting Systems

This is not the first time a temporary acting Minister for Foreign Affairs has been designated. The pages of the Official Gazette record multiple designations and removals from this role over short periods.

• August 27: Upon the return of Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi, the designation of temporary acting minister is revoked pursuant to Article 10 of the Cabinet Law (Minoru Kihara).
• September 2: Minoru Kihara is designated as temporary acting minister during the absence of Toshimitsu Motegi on an overseas trip.
• September 24: Minister of State Hayayuki Fujii, acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, signs Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice No. 293, among others.
• October 29: Minoru Kihara is designated as temporary acting minister during the absence of Toshimitsu Motegi on an overseas trip (published in the Official Gazette dated November 4).
• November 8: The current designation.

As shown, a practice has become established where the same individual repeatedly serves as acting minister depending on the Foreign Minister’s period abroad, and the designation and removal of the acting minister are announced each time in the personnel section of the Official Gazette.

Significance for the Reader

Due to this announcement, diplomatic documents, countersignatures of cabinet orders, and signatures on Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordinances and notices issued from November 8 onward will be made in the name of Minoru Kihara. Decision-making and the issuance of official documents by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do not stop during overseas trips; treaties, diplomatic correspondence, and notices for Japanese nationals residing abroad are processed under the authority of the acting minister. Upon the return of Toshimitsu Motegi, it is expected that a personnel announcement revoking the designation of the temporary acting minister will be published in the Official Gazette, similar to the example from August 27. It is important to note that this is a temporary change in the person executing the duties, not a substantive change in foreign policy.

Source: Official Gazette, Wednesday, November 11, Reiwa 8, “Personnel Changes” Cabinet (○Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, designation date November 8) / Same, Cabinet Order No. 348 (Cabinet Order to partially amend the Cabinet Order concerning the Establishment of the International Peace Cooperation Force in the Sinai Peninsula, signed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Minister of State Minoru Kihara, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs) / Official Gazette, October 30, Reiwa 8, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ordinance No. 24 / Official Gazette, November 4, Reiwa 8, “Personnel Changes” (for the October 29 designation) / Official Gazette, August 27, Reiwa 8, “Removal of Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs” / Official Gazette, September 24, Reiwa 8, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice No. 293.