Kishida Appoints Eleven New Ministers in Second Cabinet Reshuffle

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio | Source: Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Japan’s prime minister and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Kishida Fumio appointed eleven new members to his 19-member cabinet on September 13. The new cabinet’s inauguration began with an attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Kishida commented, in a following press conference, that the changes to his cabinet reflect the need to adapt to “recent economical [...] and technological changes.” This marks another reshuffling of Kishida’s second cabinet during his time as prime minister—the first being in August 2022.

This reshuffle follows a lengthy stagnation in Kishida’s cabinet approval ratings. In 2022, the approval rating fell “from 52 percent to 36 percent in just one month” following the revelation that “at least 180 out of 379 LDP lawmakers in Japan’s National Diet [had] ties to the Unification Church—calling into question the influence of the organization in Japanese politics. According to the same article, the activities of the Unification Church have been criticized and reported as leading to “labor exploitation and the financial deprivation of believers in Japan since the 1980s.” This amounts to an estimated hundreds of millions of US dollars in damage. In 2023, voter support continues to remain low, following errors around data imputation in the My Number Card. The Asahi Shimbun reported in June that these errors within the ID card system had resulted in a person’s information being linked to the incorrect ID card, leading to concerns about privacy and inconveniences with health insurance. 

According to Japanese political commentator Masuda Tsuyoshi, the retention of key members and demographics in the new cabinet suggests a strategic move aimed at increasing approval ratings within the LDP. Furthermore, Masuda says that the retention of Digital Transformation Minister Kono Taro and Economic Security Minster Takaichi Sanae is to keep them close. Both cabinet members are expected to run against Kishida, but he is trying to complicate their ability to “criticize [his] administration and run against him.”

Additionally, Kishida increased the presence of women in high-power positions to increase voter support. For example, he appointed former justice minister Kamikawa Yoko as minister of foreign affairs—making her the first female foreign affairs minister to serve in almost two decades. However, Masuda and other commentators believe that the reshuffle will do little to change current approval ratings. Although there are unprecedented political implications regarding the newly appointed ministers, the cabinet is unlikely to induce significant changes to policy.

As predicted by preliminary observations, nationwide polls conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Mainichi Shimbun show that public opinion of the current administration remains low. The Yomiuri Shimbun poll, conducted after the reshuffle, indicates that the approval rating remained unchanged at 35 percent. The more recent Mainichi Shimbun poll, conducted on September 16 and 17, indicates a 25 percent support rate for the new cabinet. 
While the LDP maintains the highest percentage of support across all the political parties, 25 percent of the 967 combined respondents in the Mainichi Shimbun poll also indicated that they “did not support any political party.” Coupled with Kishida’s declining support as LDP leader, this may indicate the need for other political measures to bolster support in time for the next election.