Yoko Kamikawa

Kamikawa Yoko (Japanese: Kamikawa Yoko/Kamikawa Yoko, Romanized: Kamikawa Yōko, March 1, 1953 -) is a Japanese female politician and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. Born in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Member of the House of Representatives (elected for 5 terms), belongs to the Hiroshikai (Kishida faction) within the Liberal Democratic Party. She has served as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications in the third Koizumi reform cabinet, the Cabinet Office Special Minister (countermeasures against low birthrate, gender participation) in the first Abe reform cabinet and the Fukuda Yasuo cabinet, the deputy minister of general affairs in the second Abe cabinet, and the minister of justice in the second Abe reform cabinet, the third Abe cabinet, the third Abe reform cabinet and the fourth Abe cabinet. In July 2018, Kamikawa approved the execution of Shoko Asahara, the mastermind of the Tokyo subway sarin gas incident, and the other 12 core Aum Shinrikyo cadres, bringing all Aum Shinrikyo death row prisoners to justice. During her tenure as Minister of Justice, she approved the execution orders of a total of 16 death row inmates, making her the Minister of Justice who approved the most execution orders since the 1980s. On September 16, 2020, Yoko Kamikawa became the Minister of Justice in Yoshihide Suga's cabinet. This was her third term as Minister of Justice. She resigned with the resignation of the cabinet on October 4, 2021. On September 14, 2023, Yoko Kamikawa was nominated as Minister of Foreign Affairs by then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.