Kishida Retains Abe's Brother as Defense Minister... Also Keeps Motegi as Foreign Minister

Fumio Kishida, President of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Fumio Kishida, president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, is scheduled to take office as prime minister on the 4th, and the lineup of the new cabinet is gradually being revealed.

Some of Abe Shinzo's close aides and those who served in the Suga Yoshihide cabinet are expected to be retained or reshuffled to continue playing important roles.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 3rd, Kishida plans to retain Nobuo Kishi, Abe's younger brother, as defense minister. The newspaper reported that this decision was made considering the need to maintain policy continuity amid a severe security environment.

Considering that Abe was the "kingmaker" who ultimately ensured Kishida's victory in last month's party presidential election, Kishida's appointment of Kishi is also interpreted as a choice to maintain a friendly relationship with Abe.

Kishida is also expected to retain Motegi Toshimitsu as foreign minister, who was appointed at the end of the Abe administration and kept the same position under the Suga administration. Based on the appointments, it is anticipated that the Kishida administration's diplomacy and security policies will prioritize stability over change.

Shunichi Suzuki, former LDP secretary-general, is likely to be appointed as finance minister, and Hirokazu Matsuno, former minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, is a strong candidate for chief cabinet secretary.

Kishida plans to give cabinet positions to Koichi Hagiuda, Abe's close aide and minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, and Seiko Noda, former minister of internal affairs and communications who competed in the presidential election, and is currently coordinating their roles, Yomiuri reported.

Summarizing reports from Japanese media, there is a possibility that Yasushi Kaneko, former vice minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism; Takayuki Kobayashi, former parliamentary vice-minister of defense; Shigeyuki Koto, acting chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council; Satoshi Ninoyu, chairman of the House of Councillors Policy Deliberation Council; Kozaiburo Nishime, former vice minister of economy, trade and industry; and Daishiro Yamagiwa, former vice minister of economy, trade and industry, will receive cabinet posts for the first time.

Kazuyoshi Akaba, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism from the coalition partner Komeito, is also likely to be retained. Additionally, some media speculate that Yoko Kamikawa, minister of justice, will be appointed to a key position.

Kishida is making personnel appointments by distributing key posts considering relationships with those who cooperated in his election and allocating positions to major factions to stabilize his power base ahead of the general election. Due to this, Yomiuri reported that there is dissatisfaction as members of the Kochikai faction, which Kishida leads, did not receive any of the four top party positions in the earlier LDP personnel reshuffle.

Sanae Takaichi, LDP Policy Research Council chairperson, Hirokazu Matsuno, expected to be chief cabinet secretary, and Koichi Hagiuda, who is expected to continue participating in the cabinet, have effectively represented far-right forces regarding historical issues and may negatively impact future Japan-South Korea relations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.