Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to prioritise personnel continuity in a
planned September cabinet reshuffle, with finance minister Satsuki Katayama,
defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi and foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi
reported likely to stay. The reshuffle falls roughly halfway between her October
appointment and the end of her LDP presidency in September 2027. Markets will
focus on whether Takaichi offers cabinet posts to senior members of the Japan
Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin), which supplied crucial votes for her October
rise, and on how she positions ahead of next year’s LDP presidential contest.
Nippon Ishin co-leader Hirofumi Yoshimura said in late August the party would
cooperate if formally invited to join the cabinet but did not specify desired
posts.
