Japan’s Pragmatic Cabinet Shuffle

Jeff Genota / September 24, 2010

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a leadership challenge from a kingmaker in his own Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Ichiro Ozawa, and last Friday he reshuffled his cabinet. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was named the party’s secretary-general and number two to Kan. Okada leaves the foreign minister’s desk stacked high with unfinished business in Japan’s foreign relations, such as soothing bilateral tensions with Beijing over the recent collision of a Japanese patrol vessel and a Chinese fishing boat. Okada was also unable to resolve complicated negotiations over the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa.

Okada, like other senior DPJ leaders, initially expressed reservations about Japan’s alliance with the United States. Upon assuming office, he commented that under previous administrations, Japanese foreign policy was “excessively dependent on the U.S. I want to develop a foreign policy which will be able to convey our own thinking.” He also favored having Japanese foreign policy give greater reprioritization to Asia over the Japan–U.S. alliance. (more…)