Overview
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is finalizing a cabinet reshuffle expected to take effect around Sept. 17 and Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara is widely reported to remain in his post.
- Kihara has grown into a central, trusted aide to the prime minister but several Liberal Democratic Party members say he has not consistently bridged communication between the cabinet and the party.
- The government is weighing a reorganization of ministerial duties that could combine reconstruction with disaster responsibilities, unify digital and AI strategy under a single minister, and create a new post to manage a time-limited consumption-tax cut proposal.
- Kihara publicly disclosed that former prime minister Fumio Kishida submitted the party role-preference questionnaire and then apologized after reports said Kishida’s form was blank, a move that highlighted sensitivities about internal consultation.
- Political realignment in the Diet is accelerating as Junya Ogawa pushes to launch a new centrist party of roughly 20 Diet members next week after the Chudo Reform Union voted to dissolve, leaving one member to remain with Chudo.