TOKYO, October 4. /TASS/. The government of Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida almost entirely consists of new members, only two ministers have retained their positions. The new cabinet was announced on Monday by the new Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno who replaced Katsunobu Kato.
Only two are keeping their previous posts: Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. Another official, Koichi Hagiuda who served as minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology in Suga’s cabinet, was transferred to another agency and designated the minister of Japan’s economy, trade and industry. He will also oversee the development of economic relations with Russia which became the responsibility of the head of the economy agency during the term of former PM Shinzo Abe.
The new government will include three women. Seiko Noda, who vied with Kishida to head Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was named the minister on low birth rate issues and on regional problems. A recently created ministry on digitalization will be headed by 44-year-old Karen Makishima while 55-year-old Noriko Horiuchi will be in charge of the ongoing inoculation drive against coronavirus.
At the same time, Shun'ichi Suzuki who was in charge of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics was tapped to head the Finance Ministry. Kishida’s government will also have a new position of the minister of economic security, designated, among other things, to intercept leaks of classified technologies. This office will be held by a 45-year-old Takayuki Kobayashi.
Fumio Kishida, who on September 29, won the race to lead Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, was elected by both houses of the nation's parliament to become Japan's 100th prime minister by a majority vote. The election of a new prime minister was held because of the expiration of the powers of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga who replaced Shinzo Abe following his sudden resignation last year.
The new prime minister who served as Japan’s foreign minister in 2012-2017 is considered to be a moderate conservative. He supports boosting the strategic alliance with the US and Japan’s military potential while treating the prospects of outfitting the country’s armed forces with long-range missiles and nuclear submarines with caution. Kishida also supports the LDP’s course on revising the country’s post-war constitution but thinks that it is not necessary to rush with a complete revision of its anti-war provisions.