Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to appoint former Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa as foreign minister and increase the number of women to five in the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle, seeking to boost sluggish support ratings, senior administration sources said Tuesday.
Kishida also plans to tap Minoru Kihara, who served as a special adviser to former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, as defense minister, together with 10 other new faces in the personnel revamp set for Wednesday, the sources said.
To ensure stability of his administration, Kishida decided to reappoint several key ministers, including Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi.
The number of female ministers, including third-term lower house member Ayuko Kato, tapped to be minister in charge of policies related to children, is expected to hit a record high of five, on par with that of the Cabinets formed by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2001 and the late Shinzo Abe in 2014.
Kishida will also change the leadership lineup of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party he heads, but he plans to keep Toshimitsu Motegi as secretary general, the party's No. 2 post, among its four key executives.
Yuko Obuchi, the 49-year-old daughter of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, will be tapped as election campaign chief, apparently in the hope of freshening up the image of a party lineup otherwise dominated by male politicians.
Kishida, who took office in October 2021, hopes the reshuffle will boost his Cabinet's approval ratings, which have declined as public concerns linger over high inflation and problems with the "My Number" identification card system, such as personal information leaks and registration errors.
A rise in the support rate will also be essential if Kishida decides to move ahead to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election.
The four-year terms of current lower house members expire in October 2025. Kishida, however, appears to be exploring the best timing for an early poll, with a fresh mandate expected to help him win re-election in the party's leadership race next year.
At a press conference on Sunday in India, where he attended the Group of 20 summit, Kishida said the government will draw up economic measures to respond to elevated prices following the personnel change.
On Tuesday morning, Kishida met with Natsuo Yamaguchi, the head of the LDP's junior coalition partner Komeito and assured him that a ministerial post will go to a Komeito member. Land minister Tetsuo Saito from Komeito is likely to remain in his post, according to the sources.
Kishida leads its fourth-largest faction and has sought to maintain the power balance within the party.
The prime minister plans to retain Vice President Taro Aso, who heads the second-largest faction, in addition to Motegi, who is the leader of the third-largest group, the sources said.
He has decided to reappoint Koichi Hagiuda as LDP policy chief, they said.
Hagiuda and Matsuno are heavyweights belonging to the largest, conservative faction, previously led by Abe, who was fatally shot last year.
As for other key executive positions in the LDP, veteran lawmaker Hiroshi Moriyama will likely be replaced by Obuchi and will be appointed chief of the general council.
Obuchi became the youngest postwar minister at 34 when she was appointed in 2008 as state minister in charge of tackling the nation's declining birthrate. In 2014, she was appointed economy, trade and industry minister but gave up the post around a month later due to a political funds scandal.
She currently heads the party's organization and campaign headquarters.
New Cabinet members are likely to include welfare minister Keizo Takemi, reconstruction minister Shinako Tsuchiya and Environment Minister Shintaro Ito, the sources said.
Kishida, meanwhile, has decided to replace Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara, one of his closest aides, with Hideki Murai, they said.
Kihara has been in the post since Kishida took office and has been supporting the premier in various policy-making decisions. But he has recently been the target of weekly magazine reports that alleged his wife had been questioned by police over her former husband's death and that he intervened in the investigations.
Kihara has denied the allegations.
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