Do we like Taro Kono?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A clean record on the harm test and a decent one on character, held back only because the evidence on his wider record is thinner than we'd like.
Taro Kono is a veteran of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, first elected to the Diet in 1996 and now in his eleventh term for a Kanagawa seat. He comes from a political dynasty: his father, Yohei Kono, was a former lower house speaker who died in June 2026, according to AP. Over the years Taro has held the foreign, defence and digital portfolios.
He's long been the LDP's maverick on energy. As foreign minister in 2018 he convened a panel that backed phasing out nuclear and coal while ramping up renewables, which ruffled the trade ministry, and he later set up a taskforce to cut red tape for renewables. By 2024 he had softened a little, saying he'd changed his policy and that carbon neutrality couldn't be reached on renewables alone.
On the harm check, the record is good. Reuters reported in 2021 that he favoured introducing same-sex marriage and supported letting married couples keep different surnames, which made him one of the more progressive voices in his party. We found no anti-trans campaigning, no conspiracy-theory slide and no run of dodgy collaborators, though the sourcing on women's and migrant issues is thinner than we'd like.
His stumbles are mostly administrative. When the My Number ID system threw up error after error in 2023, he said he'd take clear responsibility, handed back three months of salary and stayed on the job. That November he pulled out a phone in a Diet committee against the rules and apologised the next day, saying it was his mistake.
The good stuff is public service. He was put in charge of Japan's COVID vaccine rollout in January 2021, a job that drew both praise for his communication and criticism over the slow pace. He owned the frustration publicly, which counts for something.
Nothing new on him lately that changes the picture. Overall he's an easy yes: progressive on the issues we care about, no harm found, and a straight-talking record. The only caveat is that most of what's available is from 2021 to 2024, so we'd keep an eye on how he handles whatever comes next.