The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japan.
The current minister is Yoshihiro Seki, who took office on 17 September 2026.
List of ministers of education, culture, sports, science and technology (2001–)
MinisterTerm of officePrime Minister#PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeDays1Nobutaka MachimuraJanuary 6, 2001April 26, 2001Yoshiro Mori2Atsuko TōyamaApril 26, 2001September 22, 2003Junichiro Koizumi3Takeo KawamuraSeptember 22, 2003September 27, 20044Nariaki NakayamaSeptember 27, 2004October 31, 20055Kenji KosakaOctober 31, 2005September 26, 20066Bunmei IbukiSeptember 26, 2006September 26, 2007Shinzo Abe7Kisaburo TokaiSeptember 26, 2007August 2, 2008Yasuo Fukuda8Tsuneo SuzukiAugust 2, 2008September 24, 20089Ryū ShionoyaSeptember 24, 2008September 16, 2009Taro Aso10Tatsuo KawabataSeptember 16, 2009September 17, 2010Yukio HatoyamaNaoto Kan11Yoshiaki TakakiSeptember 17, 2010September 2, 201112Masaharu NakagawaSeptember 2, 2011January 13, 2012Yoshihiko Noda13Hirofumi HiranoJanuary 13, 2012October 1, 201214Makiko TanakaOctober 1, 2012December 26, 201215Hakubun ShimomuraDecember 26, 2012October 7, 2015Shinzo Abe16Hiroshi HaseOctober 7, 2015August 3, 201617Hirokazu MatsunoAugust 3, 2016August 3, 201718Yoshimasa HayashiAugust 3, 2017October 2, 201819Masahiko ShibayamaOctober 2, 2018September 11, 201920Kōichi HagiudaSeptember 11, 2019October 4, 2021Yoshihide Suga21Shinsuke SuematsuOctober 4, 2021August 10, 2022Fumio Kishida22Keiko NagaokaAugust 10, 2022September 13, 202323Masahito MoriyamaSeptember 13, 2023October 1, 202424Toshiko AbeOctober 1, 2024October 21, 2025Shigeru Ishiba25Yohei Matsumoto October 21, 2025September 17, 2026 Sanae Takaichi26Yoshihiro Seki September 17, 2026Incumbent
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