Japan’s Noda Names Okada as Deputy Premier
Japanese Deputy Premier Katsuya Okada
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Katsuya Okada, deputy premier of Japan, centre.
Katsuya Okada, deputy premier of Japan, centre. Photographer: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his Cabinet today to boost negotiations with the opposition over raising the national sales tax, as polls show rising discontent with his four-month-old administration.
Former Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was named Noda’s deputy premier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters today in Tokyo. Naoki Tanaka replaced Yasuo Ichikawa, one of two ministers who were censured last month by the Diet, as defense chief. Noda will hold a press conference at 6 p.m.
The non-binding rebukes forced Noda to consider the shakeup after opposition lawmakers threatened to boycott talks on his plan to double the 5 percent sales tax by 2015 unless the ministers were fired. The impasse complicated government efforts to rebuild from the March earthquake and nuclear disaster while reining in the world’s largest debt.
“The point of the reshuffle is to remove the censured ministers,” said Harumi Arima, an independent political analyst in Tokyo. “By naming Okada, who has a stable image, Noda wants to show that his Cabinet is made of heavyweights. And it may help promote the sales tax hike to some degree.”
Jin Matsubara replaced the other censured minister, Kenji Yamaoka, as head of consumer affairs.
The Cabinet last week endorsed the Democratic Party of Japan’s proposal to raise the consumption tax to 8 percent in April 2014 and 10 percent in October 2015 to help pay for soaring welfare costs as the population ages. Nine DPJ lawmakers left the party in revolt and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party called for an election before considering legislation on the issue.
DPJ Diplomat
Okada, 58, served as DPJ secretary-general for a year under former Prime Minister Naoto Kan after spending a year as foreign minister. As the party’s No. 2 official, he worked to reduce the influence of indicted power broker Ichiro Ozawa and to heal divisions within the DPJ as Kan’s popularity plummeted over the handling of the March disaster that crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
During his time as Japan’s top diplomat, Okada worked to ease tensions with the U.S. prompted by then-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s pledge to move an American Marine base off of the island of Okinawa. In a January 2010 interview, he praised President Barack Obama’s commitment to Asia and contrasted it favorably with predecessor George W. Bush.
A seven-term lawmaker who entered parliament in 1990 as a member of the then-ruling LDP, Okada is the second son of the founder of Aeon Corp., the country’s second-biggest retailer. A graduate of the University of Tokyo, Okada also studied international affairs at Harvard University. He worked as a trade ministry official for a decade before entering politics.
‘High Expectations’
“I have high expectations for Okada,” said Jun Okumura, a senior adviser in Tokyo for the Eurasia Group and a former ministry colleague of Okada’s. “He has connections with the opposition, he’s popular with the media and he shares the same views on tax and social security reform as Noda.”
Noda’s popularity has dropped from September, when he became Japan’s sixth prime minister since 2006. His approval rating fell 8.9 percentage points to 35.7 percent from last month, Kyodo News reported on Jan. 8.
Most voters oppose his two-stage plan to double the sales tax, with 52.9 percent against the measure compared with 45.6 percent in favor, Kyodo said. The nationwide phone survey taken Jan. 7-8 didn’t provide a margin of error or say how many people were contacted.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net;
To contact the reporter on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net
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