Short answers, pulled from the story.
Fumio Kishida was confirmed as Prime Minister by the National Diet on the 4th of October 2021, four days after defeating Taro Kono in a runoff vote to lead the Liberal Democratic Party on the 29th of September 2021.
Kishida announced on the 14th of August 2024 that he would not seek re-election as LDP president, effectively ending his premiership. His decision followed record-low approval ratings, with one poll placing him at 14%, amid sustained fallout from the LDP slush fund scandal and the party losing all three seats in the 2024 Japan by-elections.
Kishida's "new model of capitalism" aimed to reverse decades of deflationary policy by raising wages and expanding the middle class through redistributive measures. His tenure saw Japan's highest wage growth in 30 years, and his government set a minimum wage target of around 1,500 yen per hour by 2030.
On the 15th of April 2023, a man threw a cylindrical explosive device at Kishida in Wakayama just before a campaign speech. Kishida was evacuated unharmed. The attacker, Ryuji Kimura, a 24-year-old from Hyogo Prefecture, was arrested at the scene and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on the 19th of February 2025.
Kishida's government confirmed the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in August 2023, after reaching an agreement with the IAEA, whose Secretary-General Rafael Grossi confirmed the water was not toxic. Kishida publicly ate fish sashimi from Fukushima on the 30th of August 2023, calling it "safe and delicious," in response to international concerns.
Kishida served as Foreign Minister from the 26th of December 2012 until 2017, becoming the longest-serving foreign minister in postwar Japanese history, surpassing Shintaro Abe. During that time he helped arrange U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima in May 2016.