The Cabinet Office (内閣府) (CAO) is an agency of the Cabinet of Japan. It is responsible for handling the day-to-day affairs of the Cabinet. The Cabinet Office is formally headed by the Prime Minister.

Ministers

History

The Cabinet Office was established on 6 January 2001, following the reorganization of the central government. It was created to assist in the planning and overall coordination of government policies led by the Cabinet (including the Cabinet Secretariat). The Cabinet Office is different from other ministries and agencies, as it is installed in the Cabinet and includes several Ministers of State called Minister of State for Special Missions. Early on, some argued it was inappropriate to use the name Cabinet Office because "it is an organization that divides and manages administrative affairs and not the cabinet itself". The National Administrative Organization Law does not apply, instead, all necessary matters are stipulated in the Cabinet Office Establishment Law. Many important policy issues require cross-ministerial responses and since the establishment of the Cabinet Office they have delt with many different matters. The Cabinet Office's presence has increased, such as its jurisdiction over certified children's educational institutions. The number of Ministers of State for Special Missions has increased from 6 at the beginning of the Cabinet Office, to 10 as of September 2020. In the Third Abe Cabinet, as a review of the work, the “Act for Partial Revision of the National Administrative Organization Act, etc. for Strengthening Functions Related to Comprehensive Coordination, etc. of the Important Policy of the Cabinet” was enacted, and future transfer of work to each ministry was established.

Jurisdiction

The Cabinet Office's function is to help the Cabinet work on important policies and streamline critical issues Japan will face in the future. Its responsibilities extend to: As such, the Cabinet Office is responsible for several agencies and internal ministries and administrations through which these responsibilities are spread.

Organization

The CO is structured as of 2014:

Bureaus

Councils

Committees

Institutions

Special institutions

Local branch offices

External offices