Japan’s Takaichi reshuffles Cabinet, retaining key ministers
- Input
- 2026-09-17 16:12:30
- Updated
- 2026-09-17 16:12:30
Kyodo News reported that Prime Minister Takaichi would launch the second Takaichi reshuffled Cabinet that day. Most key ministers, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi, retained their posts.
The Japan Restoration Party member appointed to the Cabinet for the first time was Hiroshi Nakatsuka, the party’s former secretary-general, who became minister in charge of regulatory reform. Prime Minister Takaichi formally asked Japan Restoration Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura to join the Cabinet on the 16th, and Yoshimura accepted. Even after forming a coalition government with the LDP in October last year, the Japan Restoration Party had not supplied any cabinet ministers and had maintained what was known as “extra-cabinet cooperation.”
Prime Minister Takaichi accepted the ministers’ resignations at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting that morning. The Chief Cabinet Secretary is scheduled to announce the new Cabinet lineup that afternoon. The second Takaichi Cabinet will formally launch after the Emperor’s attestation ceremony. Takaichi is also scheduled to hold a press conference that afternoon to explain the reasons for the reshuffle and the direction of her administration going forward.
Prime Minister Takaichi plans to pass key measures, including a bill to cut the consumption tax and legislation to reduce the number of House of Representatives seats, at the extraordinary session of the Diet expected to convene early next month. The LDP holds an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives of Japan, but the ruling parties do not control a majority in the House of Councillors. They therefore need cooperation from the opposition to pass the bills in the Diet.
[email protected] Hong Chae-wan Reporter