[News Figures] Hayashi, Anti-Abe Faction, Returns as Chief Cabinet Secretary

Hayashi Yoshimasa, appointed as Chief Cabinet Secretary, the second most powerful position in the Japanese Cabinet, is a silver spoon politician born into a famous political family. Known as a prodigy who graduated from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law and studied at Harvard Kennedy School, he hails from Yamaguchi Prefecture, overlapping with the constituency of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who passed away last year. His father, Hayashi Yoshiro (11-term member of the House of Representatives), served as Minister of Health and Welfare in the Nakasone Cabinet, and his grandfather was a member of the House of Representatives belonging to the Japan Progressive Party formed after the end of the Pacific War.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Hayashi began his political career in 1995 as a member of the House of Councillors, the upper house, representing Yamaguchi Prefecture. He served as Minister of Defense in the Fukuda Cabinet, Minister of State for Economic Revitalization in the Aso Cabinet, and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as well as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the Abe Cabinet. In the Kishida Cabinet, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2021 until stepping down last September.

He is a close aide to Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and is considered a potential rival as a candidate for the next prime minister. It is known that he harbors strong ambitions to become prime minister. In 2021, he switched from the House of Councillors, where he had been elected five times, to the House of Representatives. At that time, his challenge for a seat in the House of Representatives was widely seen as linked to his ambition to become prime minister. In Japan’s parliamentary system, the House of Representatives is regarded as a de facto essential condition for becoming prime minister.

Last year, during the process of reducing the number of constituencies in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Hayashi found himself in an uncomfortable rivalry with former Prime Minister Abe over the next general election district. Particularly, since the Hayashi family had been competing with the Abe family over the Shimonoseki electoral district since the time of his father, Hayashi Yoshiro, there was significant interest in Japanese political circles regarding their competition over the redistricting. Additionally, other faction leaders such as Aso Taro, Deputy President of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Motegi Toshimitsu, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, also have a strained relationship with Hayashi.

Although he directly participated in discussions to improve Japan-South Korea relations while serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2021 to September this year in the Kishida Cabinet, his relationship with South Korea is not particularly good. He belongs to the "Shinto Political League Parliamentary Group," which includes Japanese right-wing politicians, and the "Parliamentary Group Visiting Yasukuni Shrine Together." It is known that he dedicated lanterns (a type of traditional lamp) in 2013 and 2014 while serving as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Furthermore, in March 2018, while serving as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology finalized high school curriculum guidelines teaching Dokdo as Japanese territory, which caused conflict with South Korea.