New Japanese PM unveils youthful cabinet

Japan’s sixth new leader in five years has named a youthful cabinet lacking the usual political heavyweights, as he attempts to unite a divided party and safeguard a fragile post-quake recovery.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda gave the key posts of foreign and finance ministers to lawmakers in their 40s, considered young in Japanese politics for such roles.
The position of finance minister went to relative unknown Jun Azumi, 49, against expectations Noda would pick a veteran from his ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Koichiro Gemba, 47, becomes foreign minister.
The new cabinet, unveiled by new Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, was expected to be sworn in by Emperor Akihito later on Friday.
“The appointments were aimed at achieving party unity,” Fujimura told a press conference, adding that the new government’s priority was recovery from the March 11 disaster and resolution of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Azumi, a native of the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi devastated by the March earthquake and tsunami, worked as a reporter for NHK before launching his political career. This is his first role as a cabinet minister.
He was the ruling party’s chief of parliamentary affairs under outgoing leader Naoto Kan, and used his firm ties with the opposition in a hard-fought campaign to win cooperation in passing key bills through a divided parliament.
As finance minister, Azumi faces the tough tasks of shielding the economy from a strong yen and addressing a ballooning public debt as the nation’s rapidly ageing population increases social security costs.
Gemba, the new foreign minister, was state minister in charge of national policy in the outgoing cabinet. Japanese diplomacy was heavily tested last year by territorial disputes with China and Russia.
The new foreign minister must also work to maintain relations with key ally the United States against a backdrop of protracted discussions over the relocation of a US military base on the southern island of Okinawa.
The defence portfolio was given to 69-year-old Yasuo Ichikawa while Yoshio Hachiro, 63, was named Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Goshi Hosono will continue his role in overseeing the resolution of the Fukushima crisis as environment minister in charge of the nuclear power plant disaster.
The cabinet features two women — Renho, 43, who goes by one name and health minister Yoko Komiyama, a 62-year-old former NHK anchorwoman.
Noda was elected on Tuesday, inheriting the daunting challenges of disaster recovery, a nuclear crisis, a soaring yen and a ballooning public debt.
His predecessor Kan resigned after 14 months in office under fierce criticism of his administration’s handling of the earthquake aftermath.
Noda has pledged to be a peacemaker in the ruling centre-left DPJ, which is deeply split between supporters and foes of veteran powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, indicted in a political funding scandal.
His priority is the passing of a third budget, expected to amount to more than 10 trillion yen ($130 billion), to pay for post-March 11 reconstruction as he looks to revive an economy that has contracted for three straight quarters.
He has advocated higher taxes to fund Japan’s post-quake rebuild and help tackle a debt running at more than 200 percent of GDP, although analysts warn such a move would have to be timed well to avoid threatening growth.
Half a year after Japan was hit by the quake and tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear crisis continues, and operator Tokyo Electric Power Company is struggling to bring the reactors to cold shutdown by January.
The radiation that has escaped has driven tens of thousands from their homes, made some rural areas uninhabitable for years, and contaminated food supplies, some of which have entered the market.