Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

• 1. Introduction

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  The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, usually shortened to METI, is a ministry of the Government of Japan, and its headquarters stands in Kasumigaseki, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. It exists because of the 2001 Central Government Reform. That reform merged the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, known as MITI, with agencies from other ministries that handled economic activity, including the Economic Planning Agency. The result is a single ministry with an unusually wide reach. How much of a national economy can one department claim as its own? What became of the power that its famous predecessor once held? And why does a ministry with such a broad brief struggle to win public confidence at home?

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• 2. Mandate and Reach

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  Article 3 of the Act for the Establishment of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is Act No. 99 of 1999, sets out the ministry's purpose. It tells METI to "enhance the economic vitality of the private sector". It also points the ministry toward economic and industrial development built on the smooth development of foreign economic relations. The same article adds the stable and efficient development of mineral and energy resources.

  In practice, ensuring supply is the goal that ties these duties together. To pursue it, the ministry holds jurisdiction over macroeconomic policy, industrial policy, trade policy and trade control operations. It also covers industrial technology policy, distribution policy and energy policy. Japan's energy security, the control of arms exports and the promotion of "Cool Japan" all fall inside this same portfolio.

  Some middle-ranking bureaucrats chosen from the ministry are posted to the Japan External Trade Organization in foreign countries. There they work as industrial investigators and carry out research on the economies around them.

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• 3. The Predecessor Years

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  The Ministry of International Trade and Industry operated from the 25th of May 1949 to the 5th of January 2001. The next day, the 6th of January 2001, central government ministries and agencies were reorganised. METI was established by reorganising and renaming MITI.

  During Japan's period of high economic growth, MITI was regarded as the driving force behind it. It earned the title "Economic General Staff Headquarters", the general control centre of the Japanese economy, a system often called Japan Inc.

  MITI relied on licences and administrative guidance, which it was empowered to use. Industrial policy was its main task. Its sources of power included allocated loans from government-affiliated financial institutions, known as FILP, along with budget allowances and subsidies.

  Its authority also stretched across science and technology research and development, trade, patents and energy policy. It handled small and medium enterprise policy tied to technological innovation. It was even involved in monetary policy. That wide authority looked very different once the years of high growth had ended.

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• 4. Department Store Ministry

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  Every year around May and June, new policy ideas are floated at METI, which the source describes as "ad balloons". The pattern follows from the ministry's position after high growth ended. It kept a wide range of authority, but it could not administer licensing and subsidies as effectively as the so-called "operational government agencies". One-off policy ideas were the natural result.

  The Ministry of Finance offers the contrast. It remains a "general government agency", widely involved in decisions through fiscal policy, budget assessments and taxation. METI, by comparison, is an "administrative department store" with jurisdiction over most industries. Another label applied to it is "limited general government office".

  Those labels describe a ministry that touches nearly every industry but commands fewer levers than it once did. The record of some of its biggest projects shows what that can cost.

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• 5. Inside the Organization

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  METI is built from six bureaus, a Minister's Secretariat and three agencies. The agencies are the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency and the Japan Patent Office. Regional bureaus, an Industrial Safety and Inspection Department and several incorporated administrative agencies complete the structure.

  The Trade Policy Bureau divides its work by region. It has separate divisions for the Americas, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, for Asia and the Pacific, and for Northeast Asia. The Trade and Economic Security Bureau handles trade control, with divisions for security export control policy and security export licensing.

  The Manufacturing Industries Bureau reads like a tour of heavy industry. Its divisions cover minerals, materials, industrial machinery, aircraft and weapons, automobiles and the space industry. The Innovation and Environment Bureau includes an Environmental Policy Division and a GX Promotion Division.

  The Commerce and Information Policy Bureau reaches into daily life. It has a Cyber Security Division, a Battery Industry Division and a Healthcare Industries Division. Its Creative Industries Division houses the Cool Japan Promotion Office, a Fashion Policy Office, a Design Policy Office and a Traditional Craft Industry Office.

  Above all of these units sits the minister, and the list of those who have held the post since 2001 is long.

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• 6. A Revolving Door of Ministers

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  Takeo Hiranuma was the first minister, serving from January 2001 to September 2003 under Prime Minister Jun'ichirō Koizumi. Shoichi Nakagawa followed him until October 2005. Toshihiro Nikai then took the post in November 2005 and held it until September 2006.

  Akira Amari led the ministry from September 2006 to August 2008, serving under Shinzō Abe and then Yasuo Fukuda. Nikai returned in August 2008 and stayed until September 2009, this time under Tarō Asō.

  Some tenures were very brief. Yoshio Hachiro began and ended his time as minister within September 2011, under Yoshihiko Noda. Yūko Obuchi served from September 2014 to October 2014. Isshu Sugawara served from September 2019 to October 2019.

  Others stayed far longer. Hiroshige Sekō held the office from August 2016 to September 2019 under Abe. Yukio Edano served from September 2011 to December 2012, and Hiroshi Kajiyama served from October 2019 to October 2021 across the Abe and Yoshihide Suga governments.

  Yoji Muto took over in October 2024 under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The current head is Ryosei Akazawa, whom Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appointed minister in October 2025.

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• 7. Reputation and Controversy

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  Several of METI's flagship efforts have failed. The nuclear fuel cycle program is one. The 5th generation computer program is another, and so is the software development program known as the "Sigma Plan". Because many of the industrial policies the ministry started have failed, it is not highly regarded or trusted in Japan in the 21st century.

  A diplomatic dispute added to the criticism. In July 2019, METI restricted the export of semiconductor components to South Korea, and it did so without any consultation with South Korea.

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