Japan's Kishida shuffles Cabinet and party posts to solidify power
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has shuffled his Cabinet and key party posts to strengthen his position before a key party leadership vote next year, bringing in a new defense minister and the country’s first female foreign minister since 2002
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shuffled his Cabinet and key party posts on Wednesday to strengthen his position before a key party leadership vote next year, bringing in a new defense minister and the country's first female foreign minister since 2002.
Kishida appointed five women to the 19-member Cabinet, part of his attempt to buoy sagging support ratings for his previous male-dominated Cabinet, which had only two women. The five females match the number in two earlier Japanese Cabinets — in 2014 and 2001.
One of the five, former Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, who approved the hangings in 2018 of a cult leader and six aides for a deadly 1995 subway nerve gas attack, was appointed foreign minister, replacing Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Minoru Kihara, who has been serving on the governing Liberal Democratic Party's national security committee, was selected defense minister, replacing Yasukazu Hamada.
Kishida said the new Cabinet reflects his determination to adapt to recent rapid economic, security and technological changes and turn those into national strengths.
“There is a huge flow of change in front of us," Kishida said at a news conference after the Cabinet's swearing-in ceremony. “We cannot stand still just watching all these changes.”
Kishida said three pillars of his policy goals are an end to deflation, stronger diplomacy and security, and measures to address Japan's rapid aging and declining population.
It is the second Cabinet shuffle since Kishida took
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