Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Announcement of the members of the Cabinet) (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:I am Osamu Fujimura and I have been appointed to take on the position of Chief Cabinet Secretary. I look forward to working with you all and will endeavor to engage in my duties with sincerity and due commitment.

First of all, I would like to introduce the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries. They are: Tsuyoshi Saito, Hiroyuki Nagahama and Makoto Taketoshi.

Next, I would like to announce the members of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

(Announcement of the members of the Cabinet)

Of these Cabinet members, Minister Koichiro Gemba continues to hold a Cabinet position. Minister Michihiko Kano retains his position from the previous administration. Minister Goshi Hosono continues to hold a Cabinet position. Other ministers who have retained their positions from the previous administration are Minister Shozaburo Jimi, Minister Tatsuo Hirano, and also the Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau. The planned schedule for today is that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet members will attend investiture and attestation ceremonies, respectively, at the Imperial Palace at 2:00pm, the Prime Minister will give a press conference at 5:00pm, and the first Cabinet meeting will be held at 6:00pm.

Q&As

REPORTER:Can you tell us what the most significant points and emphases were in the process of forming the new Cabinet, and what comments or opinions were made by the Prime Minister during this process?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:First and foremost it is Prime Minister Noda who has given due thought to what the emphasis and focus should be when forming the Cabinet and although I think it would be presumptuous from my position as Chief Cabinet Secretary to speak on behalf of the Prime Minister, one of the main points has been to "place the right person in the right job," which is something the Prime Minister has stated on a number of occasions. I believe that the point made by the Prime Minister about being a "loach" was also one of the perspectives he considered, namely that we must get down in the dirt and work up a sweat as we engage in our work to advance politics.

(Abridged)

REPORTER:This is a broad question, but what will be the largest issues that the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Noda will seek to tackle first as a matter of urgency?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:In connection with the Great East Japan Earthquake, there are still some areas where recovery has yet to be achieved, so naturally the first priority will be swift recovery. This will be accompanied by efforts for reconstruction and also bringing the nuclear power station accident to a conclusion in the near term. Also, another issue in the broad sense relates to financial and fiscal matters in the global economy. Prime Minister Noda has already stated that it is clearly the case that single country economic and fiscal policy is no longer sufficient for Japan and therefore reform of financial and fiscal structures will also be priority an issue, when viewed from a broad global perspective.

My press conferences as Chief Cabinet Secretary will begin from today, and will be held twice a day in the morning and afternoon. Our working relationship and interactions will therefore be long-running and truly on a daily basis. I am looking forward to working with you.