--- description: Find out why Fumio Kishida is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Fumio Kishida: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt767b061a0eb7bac5/698a3bce09208fba5d41a3f5/Fumio-Kishida-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Fumio Kishida by Charlie Campbell  ROME, ITALY - JANUARY 10: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (not in picture) before their meeting at Palazzo Chigi, on January 10, 2023 in Rome, Italy. The visit to Italy’s capital is taking place as part of Kishida's trans-Atlantic tour from Jan 9-14\. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images) ROME, ITALY - JANUARY 10: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (not in picture) before their meeting at Palazzo Chigi, on January 10, 2023 in Rome, Italy. The visit to Italy’s capital is taking place as part of Kishida's trans-Atlantic tour from Jan 9-14\. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)Antonio Masiello—Getty Images When, on March 21, [Fumio Kishida](https://time.com/6246784/kishida-japan-us-visit-biden/ "undefined") laid a wreath in the stricken Ukrainian town of Bucha, Japan’s Prime Minister remarked upon “great anger at the atrocity.” Kishida, 65, knows the pain of war; he lost several relatives to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, his ancestral home, and grew up on stories of their suffering. And so, faced with rising aggression from Russia, China, and North Korea, Kishida has set about revolutionizing Japanese foreign policy: soothing historical grievances with South Korea, boosting defense spending by over 50%, and strengthening security alliances with the U.S. At home, he has launched a “[new model of capitalism](https://time.com/6106404/japan-economy-fumio-kishida/ "undefined")” to grow the middle class through redistributive policies. Much work remains: Kishida’s party has faced criticism for marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community and for close links to a controversial cult. But when Kishida welcomes G-7 leaders to Hiroshima in May, he’ll do so as head of a resurgent Japan. _Campbell is a TIME correspondent_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269875/fumio-kishida/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269875/fumio-kishida/"},"headline":"Fumio Kishida","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:05.584Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269875/fumio-kishida/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt767b061a0eb7bac5/698a3bce09208fba5d41a3f5/Fumio-Kishida-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt767b061a0eb7bac5/698a3bce09208fba5d41a3f5/Fumio-Kishida-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269875/fumio-kishida/","name":"Fumio Kishida"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269875/fumio-kishida/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269875/fumio-kishida/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```