Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae restructured the cabinet on September 17 to launch the second cabinet reshuffle.
In this reshuffle, House of Representatives member Yana Kazuo (簗和生·47) was appointed agriculture minister.
He is a party to the undisclosed political funding issue involving Liberal Democratic Party factions that came to light in 2023, and this is the first time a legislator with such a history has become a cabinet minister.
Three-Line Summary
1. Prime Minister Takaichi appoints Yana Kazuo as agriculture minister
2. First time a legislator with political funding non-disclosure history becomes cabinet minister
3. He says he has fulfilled his responsibility through two elections
Yana Kazuo Becomes Agriculture Minister
Prime Minister Takaichi held an extraordinary cabinet meeting on the morning of the 17th to collect resignations from all cabinet members, and in the afternoon Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru announced the list of new cabinet members. In this reshuffle, 10 out of 19 cabinet members were replaced, and 7 of them became cabinet members for the first time. Representative Yana is among those entering the cabinet for the first time; he took up the position of agriculture minister after having served as deputy minister of education and science. After taking office, he met with reporters at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and said, "The operational situation in production fields is difficult," and "I want to promote agricultural policy in coordination with the field." Prime Minister Takaichi reportedly instructed him to promote measures to strengthen food security.
Unreported 1746万 Yen, 6-Month Party Suspension
Representative Yana, a former member of the Abe faction, received a total of 1746万 yen in rebates from faction event revenues from 2018 to 2022 but failed to report this in his political funding report. This fact came to light when the Liberal Democratic Party's so-called "slush fund" problem involving factions emerged in 2023, and the party imposed a 6-month suspension from party posts on him in 2024. According to Asahi Shimbun reporting, Representative Seki Yoshihiro, who was appointed education minister, also has the same history of unreported funds, and this is the first time since the problem emerged that a legislator with such a history has become a cabinet minister. When reporters asked if he believed he had fulfilled his responsibility, Representative Yana responded, "I believe I have fulfilled my accountability through explanations to my constituency in the course of undergoing two elections."
Other Cabinet Members Divided Between Retention and Dismissal
In this reshuffle, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Hayashi Yoshimasa, who competed with Prime Minister Takaichi in last year's Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, stepped down, and former Deputy Foreign Minister Fujii Hisayuki was appointed as his successor. In contrast, Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro, Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, and Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki, among others, retained their positions. Additionally, for the first time, Representative Nakatsukasa Hiroshi from the Japan Innovation Party, which had previously remained outside the cabinet in a supporting role, entered the cabinet as minister in charge of regulatory reform, marking a change in the composition of the ruling coalition.
References
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