Roundup: Abe retains almost half of ministers in cabinet reshuffle, Inada appointed as DM

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, retained almost half of his ministers in their current positions although controversially appointed Tomomi Inada, the former head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, to take on the defense minister portfolio replacing Gen Nakatani.

The reshuffle, following his LDP and its coalition Komeito partner expanding their power base in an upper house election in July, marks Abe's third since he retook power in 2012 and has seen eight of his former 19-member lineup retained in their current roles, including his top spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Finance Minister Taro Aso.

The reshuffle has been pitched at underscoring the prime minister's intentions to shore up the nation's stagnant economy via the actualization of the latest installment of his "Abenomics" blend of economic policies and comes on the heels of the approval of a 28.1 trillion yen (277.74 billion U.S. dollar) stimulus package a day earlier.

However, the appointment of Tomomi Inada, the former head of the LDP's Policy Research Council, as defense minister, replacing Gen Nakatani, was made due to Abe's ongoing push to expand the operational scope of the nation's Self-Defense Forces, observers have said.

Inada, whose appointment will draw the ire of Japan's neighboring countries for her controversial revisionist remarks and options on history, as well as her regular visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine which honors war criminals, will be charged with legislation relating to the SDF's expanding role, ahead of a possible Abe-led national referendum on amending the nation's war-renouncing Constitution.

Inada is the second woman to assume the post of defense minister, following the newly-elected Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

Also retaining their portfolios in Abe's cabinet are Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Nobuteru Ishihara, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi.

In a bid to reboot Abe's economic policy drive, Kozo Yamamoto, one of the key minds behind "Abenomics," has replaced Shigeru Ishiba as minister for regional revitalization.

Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki has been replaced by LDP lawmaker Katsutoshi Kaneda, who has previously held positions in the Ministry of Finance and as State Minister of Foreign Affairs. Iwaki lost his constituency seat in last month's upper house election.

Former vice minister of agriculture Masahiro Imamura was selected to replace Reconstruction Minister Tsuyoshi Takagi and the LDP policy council's acting chairman, Jun Matsumoto, was selected as state minister in charge of disaster management and will also double- up as chairman of the National Public Safety Commission.

In other notable replacements, Environment Minister Tamayo Marukawa's portfolio was handed to Koichi Yamamoto, former senior vice minister of internal affairs and Marukawa will now serve as minister in charge of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, replacing Toshiaki Endo.

In addition, Katsunobu Kato will continue in his role as minister in charge of policies to deal with Japan's demographic issues and will double as minister in charge of reform of working practices.

Former senior vice minister of internal affairs Koichi Yamamoto will take over as environment minister and LDP lawmaker Hirokazu Matsuno replaced Hiroshi Hase as education minister and Yuji Yamamoto, who previously served as financial services minister, will replace farm minister Hiroshi Moriyama.

Among changes in the LDP's executive lineup, as party president Abe opted for Toshihiro Nikai, chairman of the LDP's General Council, to replace Sadakazu Tanigaki as party secretary general and picked acting LDP secretary general Hiroyuki Hosoda to take over from Nikai.

While Masahiko Komura was kept on as the party's vice president, Toshimitsu Motegi, the Election Strategy Committee chairman, will replace Inada as the head of the party's policy council. Endit