Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said handling the aftermath of the March 11 disaster will be the top priority of his Cabinet, a lineup that features a mixture of politicians representing various groups in the ruling party.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said handling the aftermath of the March 11 disaster will be the top priority of his Cabinet, a lineup that features a mixture of politicians representing various groups in the ruling party.
"We will accelerate rebuilding efforts in response to those who have said the government has been slow in building temporary housing and in removing rubble from the disaster areas," Noda said at a news conference Sept. 2 after his Cabinet was formally endorsed.
The Cabinet lineup is seen as Noda's attempt to restore solidarity in the fractured Democratic Party of Japan for a united push to resolve the pressing problems facing the nation, including rebuilding the Tohoku region, ending the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and staving off problems from the strong yen and ballooning debt.
"With a fundamental stance of picking the appropriate individual for each post, I sought a well-balanced mix of different elements," Noda said. "I will leave an appraisal of the selections up to you, but there is no case of personnel decisions satisfying everyone. I made my decisions while being aware of that."
One of Noda's closest allies, Osamu Fujimura, was named chief Cabinet secretary and announced the Cabinet lineup on the morning of Sept. 2.
The sluggish process in dealing with the destruction from the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami was one reason Noda's predecessor, Naoto Kan, resigned.
In his speech, Noda said the central government would play a stronger role in decontaminating communities hit by radiation spewed from the crippled Fukushima plant as part of efforts to resolve the nuclear accident as quickly as possible.
Because of their past involvement in these urgent matters, Noda retained Goshi Hosono, 40, as state minister in charge of the Fukushima nuclear accident and Tatsuo Hirano, 57, as state minister in charge of the rebuilding process.
The prime minister also touched upon the need to respond to the global economic crisis by dealing with a possible hollowing out of Japanese industries due to the recent appreciation of the yen against the dollar. He said he plans to rebuild the Japanese economy struggling amid insufficient energy sources while addressing the serious fiscal condition of the central government.
Chosen as finance minister to play the leading role in monitoring the strong yen and in restoring Japan's fiscal health was Jun Azumi, 49, a former Diet Affairs Committee chairman of the DPJ.
Touching upon market interventions to deal with a rapidly rising yen when he was finance minister, Noda said he understood calls for more fundamental measures to deal with the stronger yen.
"We have to implement further economic measures, including a third supplementary budget," Noda said. "We have to provide financial assistance to small businesses. Another important area will be monetary policy, and we will work closely with the Bank of Japan by sharing the same sense of what the pressing issues are."
Noda initially wanted Katsuya Okada, the outgoing DPJ secretary-general, as chief Cabinet secretary because he shares similar positions on such basic policy as restoring the nation's fiscal health.
After Okada declined the post, Noda left Okada out of the administration but picked Azumi, a close Okada ally, as finance minister. Noda also appointed an even closer Okada associate, Masaharu Nakagawa, 61, as education minister.
The new prime minister began filling out his Cabinet roster after meeting Sept. 2 with Shizuka Kamei, head of the People's New Party, to seek the party's continued cooperation in the coalition government.
Shozaburo Jimi, a 65-year-old member of Kamei's PNP, will continue to serve as state minister in charge of financial services and postal reform.
In choosing Koichiro Genba, 47, as foreign minister, Noda placed an emphasis on economic diplomacy. The selection was made in part because Genba strongly pushed for Japan to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade arrangement as state minister in charge of national policy under Kan. Japan's decision on the TPP will be another pressing issue for the Noda administration.
As finance minister, Noda called for tax hikes to restore the nation's fiscal health.
During the recent DPJ presidential election, Noda pledged to appoint a Cabinet minister who would work specifically on administrative reform to gain the understanding of the public for possible higher taxes.
In that vein, Noda appointed Renho, a member of his DPJ group, to serve as state minister in charge of administrative and civil service reform.
To resuscitate the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, Noda named Motohisa Furukawa, 45, an ally of Seiji Maehara, the new DPJ policy chief, as state minister in charge of national policy and economic and fiscal policy.
In that post, Furukawa will be in charge of the simultaneous reforms of the social security and taxation systems.
Another member of the Maehara group, Yoko Komiyama, 62, was named minister of health, labor and welfare.
To achieve a balance in the party, Noda put two close associates of power broker Ichiro Ozawa in the Cabinet lineup. Kenji Yamaoka, 68, was named chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, while Yasuo Ichikawa, 69, was appointed defense minister.
At a Sept. 2 news conference, Fujimura said Noda made his Cabinet picks so that all elements within the DPJ could take part in the new administration.
The prime minister also kept Michihiko Kano, 69, as farm minister. Although Kano ran against Noda in the Aug. 29 DPJ presidential election, the Kano group voted for Noda in the runoff in which Noda defeated Banri Kaieda, the former economy, trade and industry minister.
Noda did not give Cabinet posts to Kaieda or former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi, another candidate in the DPJ presidential election. Both Kaieda and Mabuchi had come out against tax hikes to pay for the rebuilding programs.