Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has decided to include five female members in his new cabinet emerging from Wednesday’s reshuffle, tying the highest figure, sources said Tuesday.
In the shake-up of Kishida’s cabinet and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership team, former Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, 70, will be appointed foreign minister.
She will be joined by cabinet newcomers Shinako Tsuchiya, 71, set to become postdisaster reconstruction minister, Hanako Jimi, 47, who will serve as regional revitalization minister, and Ayuko Kato, 44, who will be minister for policies related to children.
Sanae Takaichi, 62, is expected to stay on as economic security minister.
Many key posts will be left untouched, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, 60, and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, 60, both keeping their current posts.
Shunichi Suzuki, 70, and Taro Kono, 60, will remain as finance minister and digital transformation minister, respectively. Komeito’s Tetsuo Saito, 71, will continue to occupy the post of minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism in line with a request from the party, which is the LDP’s junior coalition partner.
On the other hand, 65-year-old Junji Suzuki and 70-year-old Ryuji Koizumi will join the cabinet for the first time as minister of internal affairs and communications, and justice minister, respectively.
Other first-time cabinet members will include Masahito Moriyama, 69, as education, culture, sports, science and technology minister, Keizo Takemi, 71, as health, labor and welfare minister, Ichiro Miyashita, 65, as agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, Shintaro Ito, 70, as environment minister, Minoru Kihara, 54, as defense minister, and Yoshifumi Matsumura, 59, as head of the National Public Safety Commission.
Former internal affairs minister Yoshitaka Shindo, 65, will be economic revitalization minister.
At the LDP, headed by President Kishida, Vice President Taro Aso, 82, Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, 67, and Policy Research Council head Koichi Hagiuda, 60, will remain in their current posts. Tsuyoshi Takagi, 67, will continue to serve as leader of the Diet Affairs Committee.
Yuko Obuchi, 49, who heads the Party Organization and Campaign Headquarters, will be chair of the Election Strategy Committee, while her soon-to-be predecessor, Hiroshi Moriyama, 78, will become head of the General Council.
Hiroshi Kajiyama, 67, will retain the post of executive acting secretary-general, while Obuchi’s current post will be filled by former internal affairs minister Yasushi Kaneko, 62. Former digital minister Takuya Hirai, 65, will head the Public Relations Headquarters.
In the cabinet reshuffle, Hideki Murai, 43, special adviser to the prime minister, and Hiroshi Moriya, 66, a member of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament, will be appointed as deputy chief cabinet secretaries.
“I’ll make the party and cabinet appointments to ensure that both the government and the LDP can tackle with full force issues that can’t be left unaddressed,” Kishida told a party executive meeting Tuesday.
The LDP will approve the lineup of the new LDP leadership team at an extraordinary General Council meeting Wednesday morning.
Kishida will collect letters of resignation from the current cabinet members at an extraordinary cabinet meeting. He will then set up cabinet formation headquarters and summon new cabinet members to the prime minister’s office.
The reshuffled cabinet will be launched after an attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace in the afternoon.
JIJI Press