Minoru Kihara (木原 稔) is a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Defense between 2023 and 2024. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he also serves in the House of Representatives, and was previously the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense.

Political career

House of Representatives

A native of Kumamoto and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected for the first time in 2005 after working at Japan Airlines until 2004. Kihara served as the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for National Security Affairs from 2019 to 2021, for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga. Kihara is considered a pro-Taiwan MP. In August 2022, Kihara was part of an unofficial Japanese delegation to Taiwan which met with Taiwanese officials, Premier Su Tseng-chang, and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. An agreement was reached between the delegation and the Taiwanese government, to hold talks over evacuation plans for the 20,000 Japanese citizens living in Taiwan, in the event of a Chinese invasion. In July 2023, Kihara participated in a war game conducted by the think tank, Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, the war game simulated a Chinese attack on Taiwan. In the war game, Kihara played the role of Japan's defense minister and proposed using "counterattack capabilities" against China to resist the invasion.

Minister of Defense

Following a cabinet reshuffle on 13 September 2023, he was appointed minister of defense. Kihara announced on September 15, 2023 that he resigned as secretary general of cross-party group dedicated to enhancing Japan–Taiwan relations, in order to devote himself to his new duties. On October 3, 2023 Kihara visited the United States, where he met with U.S. officials to reaffirm commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance and advance new areas of cooperation. To help meet recruitment goals for Japan's core cyber defense forces, Kihara proposed loosening fitness requirements and offering higher salaries for new recruits. Kihara received criticism for his remarks in October 2023 at a political rally to support the LDP in a by-election, where he stated that "Supporting the LDP candidate will repay the efforts of the Self-Defense Forces and their families.” Critics claimed that Kihara had used the SDF for political purposes, and had violated its political neutrality. Kihara later retracted his remarks for causing a "misunderstanding". On May 2, 2024 Kihara met with defense chief counterparts from the United States, Philippines, and Australia in Hawaii. In a series of bilateral, trilateral, and quadrilateral talks Kihara alongside his counterparts reaffirmed commitments to maintaining a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.