Japan cabinet resigns ahead of reshuffle

Japan’s cabinet resigned en masse Monday, heralding a reshuffle by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as he looks to move past a damaging row with China and boost his flagging popularity. “Today in the special cabinet meeting the prime minister told us he will conduct a cabinet reshuffle,” chief government spokesman Osamu Fujimura told reporters. “The resignations of all cabinet ministers were collected.” The reshuffle had been widely trailed in Japanese media, and comes as the prime minister’s poll numbers remain dreary after a costly battle over legislation to double sales tax. It also comes as Tokyo is embroiled in a row with Beijing over the sovereignty of a group of islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China. Newspapers have said Noda is expected to elevate Makiko Tanaka to the cabinet, a woman with pro-Beijing credentials reflecting her father’s status as the prime minister who normalised ties with China in 1972. Fujimura said the prime minister would meet senior leaders from his Democratic Party of Japan later in the day and hold a press conference shortly afterwards, at which his cabinet is expected to be revealed. Commentators say that as well as helping soothe the diplomatic wrangle, Noda's reshuffle is a bid to boost his waning popularity and reinvigorate his government after a costly battle to pass tax legislation. Noda is considering appointing Tanaka to a ministerial post to signal to Beijing Tokyo's intention of repairing the damaged relationship, the Asahi said. The prime minister will likely retain Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and defence chief Satoshi Morimoto in their current posts to provide continuity as Japan tangles with China and South Korea over separate territorial rows. Noda and his new cabinet will face China, which has responded furiously after Japan bought three of the uninhabited islands - known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China - from the private owner, in a rising row which set off violent protests in several Chinese cities. South Korea has its own territorial dispute with Japan over islands called Dokdo by Seoul and Takeshima by Tokyo, which flared after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak paid a surprise visit to the islands in August. Another highlight of the reshuffle is who will replace Finance Minister Jun Azumi, who is being propelled into a top party post. Although Azumi has not been universally popular in financial circles, there have been concerns of a policy gap now that he is departing, although the minister has assured there will be no "political vacuum". Noda has named Goshi Hosono, the 41-year-old telegenic environment minister who has dealt with the daunting task of overseeing the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear accident, as the policy chief of his Democratic Party, a move seen as an effort to boost popularity in the upcoming general election. Noda is under pressure to call an election this year after he offered his opponents a vague pledge to dissolve parliament "sometime soon" in exchange for their support on a pet project to raise sales tax. But woeful opinion poll numbers have left many in his factionally-riven party fearing for their seats, with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party seen likely to win a national ballot. Japan's main opposition party chose former premier Shinzo Abe as its new leader last week, in a vote that could see him reinstated as prime minister.