Do we like them?

Do we like Yoshihide Suga?

Our score: 6 out of 10. A decent, self-made operator with a real climate pledge, but a cautious stance on same-sex marriage and a contested move on scholars keep him mid-table.

Suga's origin story is the stuff Japanese politics loves. Born in a snowy Akita village to a strawberry-farming family, he left for Tokyo and worked a string of manual jobs to pay his way through night school and university. Al Jazeera's profile called him a cardboard factory worker who became leader of Japan.

He worked his way up through Yokohama city politics, then the national Diet, and became the long-serving right-hand man to Shinzo Abe as chief cabinet secretary. He took over as prime minister in September 2020 when Abe stepped down. He's the backroom fixer who finally got the top job rather than a showman.

The harm test is where it gets muddier. Within weeks of taking office he declined to appoint six scholars the Science Council of Japan had recommended, the first time a prime minister had not accepted the full list. Critics said the six were known critics of Abe-era policy and that it chilled academic freedom. Suga denied any political motive, and the council asked him to reverse it.

On the planet side he scores better. In October 2020 he set a 2050 carbon neutrality deadline for Japan, a firmer commitment than the vague earlier target. We didn't find a campaign against LGBTQ+ people from him, but we also found little evidence of him pushing for same-sex marriage while in office, so call that a gap in his record rather than a clean bill.

His premiership ended after about a year. Approval slid during the pandemic, and the decision to hold the Tokyo Olympics was unpopular. In September 2021 he said he wouldn't contest the party leadership race, which ended his time as prime minister.

Nine months ago he said he was done, reportedly citing his age and the need to pass the baton to a younger generation of lawmakers. So he's a fairly quiet exit for a fairly quiet operator. Not a hero for queer Japan, not a villain either; a conservative-leaning pragmatist with a mixed record.