Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda named a relatively youthful cabinet on Friday to confront the same challenges that his predecessor Naoto Kan struggled with. The premier has to drag the world’s third-largest economy out of stagnation, as well as find a solution to the crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant and rebuild the northeastern region devastated in March by the tsunami.

Against expectations that Noda would choose a veteran from his ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as finance minister, he named the relatively unknown lawmaker Jun Azumi after his first choice Katsuya Okada reportedly declined.

The 49-year-old Azumi comes from the town of Ishinomaki in region that was struck by the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March. Noda hopes he will take a lead in securing a budget for the reconstruction; however his nomination is a sign that the fiscally conservative prime minister wants to call the shots, observers said.

"If he were a veteran lawmaker, the new finance minister might have clashed with Noda on some issues. But that appears not to be the case and the choice is a likely sign Noda will pursue his own policies on economic and fiscal issues," Koichi Haji, chief economist at Tokyo's NLI Research Institute told Reuters.

Towards party unity

The post of foreign minister went to 47-year-old Koichiro Gemba who is seen as one of the rising stars of the DPJ. Formerly state minister in charge of national strategy, he advocated a drive to promote free trade and the rehabilitation of debt-ridden state coffers. He is known to share Noda's view that Japan has to raise taxes to fight its ballooning fiscal debt.

However, his ideas on diplomacy have not received much publicity. In his new post he faces the task of smoothing over strained relations with Asian neighbors such as China over territorial disputes, as well as maintaining good relations with key ally, the US, against a backdrop of discussion over the relocation of a US military base on the island of Okinawa.

Yoshio Hachiro was nominated trade minister. He faces the challenge of having to hammer out a national energy policy in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Although the new prime minister has distanced himself from Naoto Kan’s anti-nuclear stance, it is clear he will not be able to build new reactors in light of current public opinion and safety concerns.

Yasuo Ichikawa was nominated as the new defense minister, while the health portfolio went to Yoko Komiyama, and education and culture went to Masaharu Nakagawa.

Yoshihiko Noda has promised to be a peacemaker in the centre-left DPJ, which is deeply divided between the supporters and enemies of Ichiro Ozawa who has been implicated in a political funding scandal.

The new Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said on Friday that the appointments were aimed at "achieving party unity." Emperor Akihito was expected to swear in the cabinet later on Friday.

Author: Anne Thomas (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan