TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s cabinet will include five female ministers, the same number as in two previous administrations, Japanese media reported on Wednesday, as the premier seeks to boost his sagging ratings with fresh faces.
Kishida, who assumed office two years ago, has seen his popularity dip in recent months after a string of scandals, including data mishaps linked to government ID cards and the arrest of a vice minister under suspicion of bribery.
About 43% of respondents disapproved of Kishida’s leadership while 36% approved, according to a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted last week.
Yoko Kamikawa, a former justice minister who oversaw the execution of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult that carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, will become foreign minister, the media outlets said.
Sanae Takaichi will remain economic security minister. Kishida also appointed three more women with no prior ministerial experience to posts overseeing the declining birthrate, the revitalisation of regional economies, and the reconstruction of the areas devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami ten years ago.
The number of women in cabinet is the same as previous cabinets led by former premiers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe.
Kishida has also appointed pro-Taiwan politician Minoru Kihara to head the defence ministry, while retaining Shunichi Suzuki as finance minister and Yasutoshi Nishimura as economic minister, the media outlets said.
(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; editing by Miral Fahmy)
