Kan to Name Yosano Key Economic Minister in Cabinet Shake-Up

Tokyo, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)--Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to name
Kaoru Yosano, who has quit the small opposition Sunrise Party of Japan, as
economic and fiscal policy minister in a cabinet reshuffle set for Friday,
informed sources have said.
He will succeed Banri Kaieda. Yosano, who belonged to the Liberal
Democratic Party before launching the Sunrise Party jointly with another
former LDP member Takeo Hiranuma in April last year, held such cabinet posts
as finance minister under previous administrations led by the LDP, which is
now the biggest opposition party.
In the cabinet shake-up, Kaieda is set to assume the post of
minister of economy, trade and industry, succeeding Akihiro Ohata, the
sources said. Ohata will become minister of land, infrastructure, transport
and tourism to replace Sumio Mabuchi.
Mabuchi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku will leave the
cabinet after being censured by the opposition-controlled House of
Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, in November because of their
poor handling of a collision incident involving a Chinese trawler and
Japanese patrol ships near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Yukio Edano, acting secretary-general of the ruling Democratic
Party of Japan, will replace Sengoku as chief cabinet secretary.
The post of justice minister, which is occupied concurrently by
Sengoku, will go to former Upper House President Satsuki Eda, the sources
said.
Kan will retain most of his ministers in the cabinet reshuffle. The
ministers to be retained are Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Defense
Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Internal Affairs
and Communications Minister Yoshihiro Katayama, Government Revitalization
Minister Renho, Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister
Yoshiaki Takaki, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Ritsuo Hosokawa,
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano, and Environment
Minister Ryu Matsumoto.
Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi, a member of the
People's New Party, the coalition partner of the DPJ, is also expected to
remain in the post, according to the sources.
Kan told reporters that Yosano is a politician that broadly shares policy goals with him and the DPJ.
As for the DPJ's executive team, Kan plans to retain
Secretary-General Katsuya Okada and Policy Research Committee Chairman
Koichiro Genba.
Genba is also expected to stay on as national policy minister.
Kan said he intends to create a cabinet and DPJ that can tackle various issues facing Japan in the most effective way.
Kan is likely to have Sengoku serve as acting chief of the DPJ.
Kan, also president of the DPJ, initially considered having Sengoku double as the party's Diet affairs chief. But the prime minister dropped the idea because opposition parties are opposed to a censured politician taking up the post responsible for parliamentary affairs.
Against the backdrop, Kan is set to pick Senior Vice Defense
Minister Jun Azumi as the DPJ's parliamentary affairs chief to succeed
Yoshio Hachiro, the sources said.
Edano is expected to announce the roster of the new Kan cabinet Friday afternoon.
Kan plans to hold a press conference Friday night to explain policy agendas of his new cabinet.