Japanese PM Fumio Kishida Revamps Cabinet

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, reshuffled his Cabinet and party executive lineup, seeking to stem a decline in public support and cut any dubious links to a religious group in the spotlight due to the killing of former premier Shinzo Abe, Kyodo News reported.

Photo Insert: Japan's revamped Cabinet

Kishida hopes the personnel changes, relying on a number of familiar faces, will pave the way for a long-term, stable administration to tackle what he has described as "the biggest challenges of the postwar era," ranging from COVID-19 and inflation to Russia's war in Ukraine and heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

The prime minister retained his right-hand man, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Mainichi Japan also reported.

Japan is facing growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia, and downside economic risks from surging prices and COVID-19 cases.

Former Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada took the defense portfolio again, as Japan seeks to reinforce its defenses through increased spending. Hamada, who was defense minister between 2008 and 2009, replaced Nobuo Kishi, the younger brother of Abe who was fatally shot during a campaign speech in July.

The assailant has said he held a grudge against the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and believed the former premier had connections with the group, according to investigators.

While Kishida apparently replaced Kishi due to his poor health, Kishi has admitted he received support from the religious group in past elections.

Followers of the church have been convicted in Japan in connection with money illegally obtained from people through the use of threats, including the citing of "ancestral karma."

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