Do we like Toshimitsu Motegi?
Our score: 5 out of 10. Nothing harmful found and some real public service, but the file is thin and he has no clear stance on same-sex marriage.
Motegi is a veteran Liberal Democratic Party man who ran the party machine as secretary-general before Sanae Takaichi picked him as foreign minister in October 2025. He is a safe-hands diplomat, not a firebrand or a celebrity. The pages we could open give little on his early life, so this one is more a political file than a life story.
On the harm check, the clearest thing we found is from February 2023. A prime ministerial aide, Masayoshi Arai, was sacked after telling reporters he didn't want to live beside LGBTQ people. Motegi, then party secretary-general, said the party would “start preparing for legislation to promote awareness of LGBTQ rights”. The AP noted some conservatives in the party were already resisting.
On separate surnames for married couples, he took the careful route during the September 2025 leadership race. He said the party is divided and that consensus should be built through discussion, not a rush to judgement. That is cautious rather than harmful. We found nothing from him on same-sex marriage either way, so that is a gap, not a pass or a fail on the issue.
The recent stoush is China. After Takaichi's Taiwan remarks, Motegi called a post by China's consul-general in Osaka “extremely inappropriate” in November 2025 and said Japan had pressed Beijing to respond. He declined to say whether Tokyo would expel the diplomat. After his February 2026 reappointment he stressed peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Where you land depends on whether you read that as firm diplomacy or as feeding the tension.
On the good side, in January 2026 he announced in Jerusalem that Japan would send personnel to the US-led coordination centre monitoring the Gaza ceasefire. He also announced about 25 billion yen in aid for Gaza's restoration and reconstruction. That is government policy, not personal charity, but it is real help for people who need it. We found nothing on his climate record.
The latest news is more of the same hard diplomatic graft. He sat down with Lavrov for about 30 minutes and demanded the release of a detained Japanese journalist. Standing up for a reporter in front of a foreign minister like that is the sort of job you want a foreign minister doing.