Factbox-Profiles of likely Japanese cabinet ministers

October 4, 2021

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s parliament is expected to vote in Fumio Kishida as the new prime minister on Monday, with a cabinet line-up tipped to feature party stalwarts and allies of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Here are brief profiles of some likely candidates:

FUMIO KISHIDA, PRIME MINISTER

A former foreign minister, Kishida has long spoken of his desire to become prime minister. He is seen as a soft-spoken, dovish consensus-builder, but lacks wide popularity.

As foreign minister, he oversaw the signing of a pact with South Korea on those forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels, and arranged the visit of former U. S. President Barack Obama to the nuclear bomb memorial city of Hiroshima.

TOSHIMITSU MOTEGI, FOREIGN MINISTER

One of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s few cabinet ministers to keep his post, Motegi, 65, served in the roles of economy and trade ministers before Abe named him to the foreign ministry in a 2019 cabinet reshuffle.

As trade minister, he tackled negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.

Educated at Harvard and the University of Tokyo, the English-speaking Motegi was first elected to the lower house in 1993 from the then-opposition Japan New Party. He joined the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1995.

NOBUO KISHI, DEFENCE MINISTER

The younger brother of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, 62-year-old Kishi was adopted by his childless uncle – the eldest son of ex-premier Nobusuke Kishi – soon after birth.

He worked in the United States, Australia, and Vietnam when employed by a trading firm before entering politics in 2004.

Kishi, ideologically aligned with his conservative brother Abe, has voiced support for constitutional revision as well as concerns over assertive neighbour China. He is also known to have friendly ties with Taiwan.

He graduated from Keio University in 1981 with a degree in economics.

SHUNICHI SUZUKI, FINANCE MINISTER

A little-known but well-connected politician who has previously served as Olympics Minister, Suzuki is the brother-in-law of current finance minister Taro Aso and the son of former prime Minister Zenko Suzuki.

He is widely expected to avoid straying from the government line and continue its bid to balance growth spending with fiscal reform.

A graduate of Waseda University, he was first elected to parliament in 1990.

KOICHI HAGIUDA, ECONOMY AND TRADE MINISTER

Hagiuda, 58, is a close ally of former premier Abe.

As education minister since 2019, he served under both Abe and Suga. Previous government stints include serving as deputy chief cabinet secretary in Abe’s administration, as well as a role as his special adviser from 2013 to 2015.

First elected to the lower house of parliament in 2003, he had previously served as an assembly member of local governments in Tokyo, the capital.

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami and Elaine Lies; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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