Category:Government ministries of Japan

Japanese Ministries (省), Agencies (庁) and its External Bureaus.

A Japanese agency (chō) is a "junior ministry" so to speak; it is not a subordinate part of any other ministry, and is different from a ministry only in that its chief is recognized as a ministerial (twelve member cabinet-level) position. Any chō can potentially be elevated to a full ministry during reorganization to reflect policy shifts (and a ministry likewise be downgraded to an agency, or merged with other ministries to make room for an agency to become a new ministry).

Defunct ministries and agencies should be classed into Category:Former government ministries of Japan

See also Category:Independent Administrative Institutions of Japan.