Japan PM picks revisionist as defense chief in new Cabinet

During Thursday’s news conference, she was asked repeatedly if she believes Japan fought a war of aggression or self-defense during World War II.

Most of the other portfolios were extended to long-serving members of parliament who want to cap their parliamentary career by becoming cabinet ministers.

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. Abe changed more than half of the 19-memb.

Japan’s cabinet approved a 28 trillion yen stimulus package on Tuesday, but the yen strengthened further because the details of the package largely came below market’s expectation.

She has been a regular visitor to Tokyo’s contentious Yasukuni war shrine and has played a leading role in an LDP study group launched previous year to review Japan’s history, reportedly taking up controversial issues such as the Nanjing massacre and the Tokyo war crimes trials.

She also has defended Japan’s wartime atrocities, including forcing many Asian women into sexual servitude in military-run brothels, and has led a party committee to re-evaluate the judgment of war tribunals by the Allies. She was once refused entry to South Korea when she sought to visit islands close to a group of islets disputed between the countries.

But some analysts worry Abe will devote too much energy to trying to revise the constitution and be distracted from the economy.

Japan’s pacifist constitution following World War II does not allow the country to use war as a means of settling global disputes, thus only allowing the country a Self Defense Force (SDF), and not a military. North Korea launched a ballistic missile which landed in the Sea of Japan, mere hours before Inada was appointed.

“We will steadily strengthen ties with neighbouring countries such as China and South Korea, and proceed with talks with Russian Federation for a peace treaty”, he said, referring to the fact that Japan and Russian Federation never signed a treaty after World War Two because of a territorial dispute.

She wrote in 2011 that Japan – the only country in the world to suffer atomic bomb attacks – should consider acquiring nuclear weapons.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga – the central figure in the administration – along with Finance Minister Taro Aso and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida retained positions held since Abe took power in December 2012. Many are not necessarily experts in their assigned portfolio, prompting opposition lawmakers to criticize Abe for dominating the Cabinet with like-minded supporters of his political views.

Japan is aiming to double the number of overseas visitors to 40 million by the time of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe characterized his cabinet reshuffle this week – the third in his administration – as giving a boost to his “biggest priority”, the economy.

Abe is trying to rekindle growth as he ponders the possibility of staying in office after his term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ends in 2018.