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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled the Cabinet for the first time since the launch of his administration.
At an extraordinary Cabinet meeting in the afternoon, the resignations of the incumbent Cabinet members were collected. After that, as a meeting of the ruling parties' heads, Prime Minister Abe held talks with Mr. Akihiro Ota, the Chief Representative of the New Komeito. Subsequently, the list of the new Cabinet members was announced shortly after 4 p.m. by Mr. Kaoru Yosano, the new Chief Cabinet Secretary.
In the evening, Prime Minister Abe attended the attestation ceremony of the Ministers of State at the Imperial Palace. Back at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, he attended a press conference, in which he explained "In acceptance of the critical voices of the people and in order to make a new start on the creation of a beautiful and new country and to continue with the reforms, I have today reshuffled the Cabinet" and expressed his determination by saying, "To recover the lost trust in politics and in the administration, I have set my mind on doing the very best I can with the members of the new Cabinet to build real achievements." He then indicated his policy to proceed ahead regarding the Diet, as he said, "We should squarely develop discussions and engage in constructive debate while asserting what needs to be asserted and listening to the opposition parties."
Afterwards, Prime Minister Abe delivered letters of assignment to positions to the new ministers. The Prime Minister then held the first meeting of the new Cabinet and attended the commemorative photograph session.
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