Recent Rulers of Japan

Updated September 6, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

Name	Date rule began	Date rule ended	Born	Died
Yamato dynasty
Mutsuhito (Meiji-tenno)	Jan. 9, 1867	July 30, 1912	1852	1912
Yoshihito (Taisho-tenno)	July 30, 1912	Nov. 25, 1921	1879	1926
Prince Hirohito (regent)	Nov. 25, 1921	Dec. 25, 1926	1901	1989
Hirohito (Showa-tenno)	Dec. 25, 1926	Jan. 7, 1989	1901	1989
Akihito	Jan. 7, 1989	Apr. 30, 2019	1933
Naruhito	May 1, 2019		1960
Prime minister
Duke Aritomo Yamagata	Nov. 8, 1898	Oct. 10, 1900	1838	1922
Duke Hirobumi Ito	Oct. 10, 1900	June 2, 1901	1841	1909
Duke Taro Katsura	June 2, 1901	Jan. 7, 1906	1847	1913
Duke Kimmochi Saionji	Jan. 7, 1906	July 14, 1908	1850	1940
Duke Taro Katsura	July 14, 1908	Aug. 30. 1911
Duke Kimmochi Saionji	Aug. 30, 1911	Dec. 19, 1912
Duke Taro Katsura	Dec. 19, 1912	Feb. 12, 1913
Count Gombei Yamamoto	Feb. 12, 1913	Apr. 15, 1914	1852	1933
Duke Shigenobu Okuma	Apr. 15, 1914	Oct. 9, 1916	1838	1922
Count Masatake Terauchi	Oct. 9, 1916	Sept. 29, 1918	1849	1919
Takashi Hara	Sept. 29, 1918	Nov. 4, 1921	1856	1921
Korekiyo Takahashi	Nov. 13, 1921	June 12, 1922	1854	1936
Tomosaburo Kato	June 12, 1922	Aug. 24, 1923	1859	1923
Yasuya Uchida (acting)	Aug. 26, 1923	Sept. 12, 1923	1865	1936
Count Gombei Yamamoto	Sept. 12, 1923	Jan. 5, 1924
Viscount Keigo Kiyoura	Jan. 5, 1924	June 11, 1924	1850	1942
Baron Takaaki Kato (from 1925, Count Takaaki Kato)	June 11, 1924	Jan. 27, 1926	1860	1926
Reijiro Wakatsuki	Jan. 30, 1926	Apr. 19, 1927	1866	1949
Baron Giichi Tanaka	Apr. 19, 1927	July 2, 1929	1863	1929
Osachi Hamaguchi	July 2, 1929	Apr. 14, 1931	1870	1931
Reijiro Wakatsuki	Apr. 14, 1931	Dec. 13, 1931
Tsuyoshi Inukai	Dec. 13, 1931	May 16, 1932	1855	1932
Korekiyo Takahashi (acting)	May 16, 1932	May 26, 1932
Viscount Makoto Saito	May 26, 1932	July 8, 1934	1858	1936
Keisuke Okada	July 8, 1934	March 9, 1936	1862	1952
Koki Hirota	March 9, 1936	Feb. 2, 1937	1878	1948
Senjuro Hayashi	Feb. 2, 1937	June 2, 1937	1876	1943
Prince Fumimaro Konoye	June 2, 1937	Jan. 4, 1939	1891	1945
Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma	Jan. 4, 1939	Aug. 29, 1939	1865	1952
Nobuyuki Abe	Aug. 29, 1939	Jan. 15, 1940	1875	1953
Mitsumasa Yonai	Jan. 15, 1940	July 21, 1940	1880	1948
Prince Fumimaro Konoe	July 21, 1940	Oct. 18, 1941
Hideki Tojo	Oct. 18, 1941	July 22, 1944	1884	1948
Kuniaki Koiso	July 22, 1944	Apr. 7, 1945	1880	1950
Baron Kantaro Suzuki	Apr. 7, 1945	Aug. 16, 1945	1867	1948
Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni	Aug. 16, 1945	Oct. 8, 1945	1887	1990
Baron Kijuro Shidehara	Oct. 8, 1945	May 20, 1946	1872	1951
Shigeru Yoshida	May 20, 1946	May 21, 1947	1878	1967
Tetsu Katayama	May 21, 1947	Feb. 23, 1948	1887	1978
Hitoshi Ashida	Feb. 23, 1948	Oct. 15, 1948	1887	1959
Shigeru Yoshida	Oct. 15, 1948	Dec. 10, 1954
Ichiro Hatoyama	Dec. 10, 1954	Dec. 23, 1956	1883	1959
Tanzan Ishibashi	Dec. 23, 1956	Feb. 24, 1957	1885	1973
Nobusuke Kishi	Feb. 24, 1957	July 18, 1960	1896	1987
Hayato Ikeda	July 18, 1960	Nov. 9, 1964	1899	1965
Eisaku Sato	Nov. 9, 1964	July 6, 1972	1901	1975
Kakuei Tanaka	July 6, 1972	Dec. 9, 1974	1918	1993
Takeo Miki	Dec. 9, 1974	Dec. 24, 1976	1907	1988
Takeo Fukuda	Dec. 24, 1976	Dec. 7, 1978	1905	1995
Masayoshi Ohira	Dec. 7, 1978	June 12, 1980	1910	1980
Masayoshi Ito (acting)	June 12, 1980	July 17, 1980	1913	1994
Zenko Suzuki	July 17, 1980	Nov. 26, 1982	1911
Yasuhiro Nakasone	Nov. 26, 1982	Nov. 6, 1987	1918
Noboru Takeshita	Nov. 6, 1987	June 2, 1989	1924
Sosuke Uno	June 2, 1989	Aug. 9, 1989	1922	1998
Toshiki Kaifu	Aug. 2, 1989	Nov. 6, 1991	1931
Kiichi Miyazawa	Nov. 6, 1991	Aug. 9, 1993	1919
Morihiro Hosokawa	Aug. 9. 1993	Apr. 25, 1994	1938
Tsutomu Hata	Apr. 25, 1994	June 29, 1994	1935
Tomiichi Murayama	June 29, 1994	Jan. 11, 1996	1924
Ryutaro Hashimoto	Jan. 11, 1996	July 30, 1998	1937
Keizo Obuchi	July 30, 1998	April 5, 2000	1937	2000
Yoshiro Mori	April 5, 2000	April 26, 2001	1937
Junichiro Koizumi	April 5, 2001	Sept. 26, 2006	1942
Shinzo Abe	Sept. 26, 2006	Sept. 26, 2007	1954
Yasuo Fukuda	Sept. 26, 2007	Sept. 24, 2008	1936
Taro Aso	Sept. 24, 2008	Sept. 16, 2009	1940
Yukio Hatoyama	Sept. 16, 2009	June 8, 2010	1947
Naoto Kan	June 8, 2010	Sept. 2, 2011	1946
Yoshihiko Noda	Sept. 2, 2011	Dec. 26, 2012	1957
Shinzo Abe	Dec. 26, 2012	Sept. 16, 2020	1954	2022
Yoshihide Suga	Sept. 16, 2020	Oct. 4, 2021	1948
Fumio Kishida	Oct. 4, 2021		1957