Noda Reshuffles Japan Cabinet in Bid for Support on Sales Tax
This article is for subscribers only.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his Cabinet in an effort to win opposition backing for his bill to double the consumption tax, after his bid to heal a breach in the ruling party failed.
Noda today named Satoshi Morimoto as defense minister, replacing Naoki Tanaka, and Yuichiro Hata as transportation minister, in place of Takeshi Maeda. Tanaka and Maeda were censured by parliament in April and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party had insisted they be replaced as a condition to negotiate on the sales tax bill.