Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga

• An overview of the Cabinet meeting
• Personnel decisions decided at the Cabinet meeting
• Personnel decisions regarding senior officials of ministries and the appointment of women
• A meeting of the Headquarters to Promote Civil Service Reform
• This summer's power saving

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I would like to give an overview of the Cabinet meeting. The meeting approved 16 general and other measures, including a measure concerning the voting date and the starting date of the official campaign for the House of Councillors ordinary election, as well as the promulgation of treaties and laws, cabinet orders, and personnel decisions. With regard to statements by ministers, Minister Mori made a statement concerning the review of the Basic Consumer Plan and concerning the Basic Policy on Promotion of Consumer Education. The Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications made a statement concerning the report of the Local Government System Research Council on the reform of the system of large metropolitan areas and the system of administrative service provision by basic municipal units, and concerning the results of the labor force survey, consumer price index, and the results of the household budget survey. The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare made a statement concerning the national ratio of jobs to applicants for May 2013. The Minister of Justice made a statement concerning the 63rd Brighter Society Campaign. I made a statement concerning the status of the passage of the draft bills, etc. submitted by the Cabinet, and Prime Minister Abe made a statement concerning acting Ministers while Ministers are away on overseas visits, among other matters.

In ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting, Minister Yamamoto made a statement concerning the guidelines of the FY2014 strategic budget priorities regarding information technology (IT) measures.

I would like to make an announcement regarding a personnel decision which was decided at today's Cabinet meeting. Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Shuichi Sakurai will be leaving his post effective July 2, and it has been decided that President Nobushige Takamizawa of the National Institute for Defense Studies will be appointed as Mr. Sakurai's replacement as shown in the material distributed to you.

Next, regarding senior officials of ministries, personnel decisions have been made as shown in the material distributed to you. In relation to this, I would like to speak about the appointment of women. Promoting the active engagement of women is one of the critical elements of the promotion of the growth strategy. This is an issue which the Government should be addressing fully. With regard to the personnel decisions concerning national public servants, ministries have been requested to appoint women actively. I would like to brief you on some of today's decisions with regard to senior officials. First, Director General of the Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau Atsuko Muraki of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will be appointed as the first female Vice Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. At the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the appointment of women for designated ministry posts, including Vice Minister Muraki, has doubled from two posts currently, to four posts. At the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Director-General of the Higher Education Bureau Kumiko Bando will be appointed as the first female Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Vice-Minister of the Minister's Secretariat Kuni Sato will become the first woman to hold a director-general level post at the ministry as the first female Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Diplomacy, and Assistant Vice-Minister of the Minister's Secretariat Naoko Saiki will be appointed as the first female Director-General for Cultural Affairs. In addition, as part of the personnel exchanges among ministries and agencies, Ms. Makiko Yamada deployed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will be appointed as the Deputy Director-General of the Minister's Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. At the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Harumi Kobe will be appointed as the Commissioner of the Hiroshima Regional Taxation Bureau, making her the first female commissioner across the 12 regional taxation bureaus in Japan. At the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ms. Yasuko Goto will be appointed as the President of the Policy Research Institute for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, making her the first female president of an institution or a facility. Furthermore, at the Ministry of the Environment, a female Ranger for Natural Conservation will become the first woman to hold an office director-level position at the ministry. At the Ministry of Defense, a female officer who spent her career with the ministry will be appointed as the first female director of the ministry. I understand that the appointments of many more women to key positions of the respective ministries have been decided. Moving forward, the entire Cabinet will continue to work to further increase female appointments.

I would like to report on the personnel decisions of the Cabinet Office, which were decided at today's Cabinet meeting. Effective June 28, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination Osamu Shimizu will leave his post, and he will be replaced by Director General Kazumichi Sakamoto of the Cabinet Office, who will be replaced by Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination Kenji Matsuyama, who will be replaced by President Kenji Umetani of the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office, who will be replaced by Director-General for Policy Planning Nobuki Sugita of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Effective the same day, Director General for Policies on Cohesive Society Shiro Yamasaki will be assigned to the Consumer Affairs Agency, and he will be replaced by Director General of the Decoration Bureau Mitsuo Takegawa of the Cabinet Office, who will be replaced by Deputy Director-General of the Employment Security Bureau Ryosuke Kuroba of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Also, effective July 1, Deputy Director-General of the Minister's Secretariat Kazuhiko Ishihara of the Ministry of Finance will assume the post of Director General of the Okinawa Development and Promotion Bureau.

Today, a meeting of the Headquarters to Promote Civil Service Reform was held before the Cabinet meeting, and "Civil Service Reform of the Future" was decided. This document indicates, ahead of the submission of draft bills, how the Government intends to reform the civil service. Draft bills related to civil service reform will be submitted if the Diet is in session in autumn with the aim of establishing the Cabinet Personnel Affairs Bureau in the spring of next year. During the meeting, the Prime Minister instructed that swift and careful reviews be undertaken under the leadership of Minister Inada with regard to the civil service reform of the future. For details, please direct your questions to Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform Inada.

Starting next Monday, July 1, the entire country, except for Okinawa, will enter into the power saving period. This summer's power saving will not be accompanied by numerical targets. Nevertheless, this year, with record high temperatures being set in June in the Kinki region and elsewhere, we will need to continue to keep ourselves in check with respect to this summer's electric power demand. Following up on our repeated power saving requests, we ask that the people and the business community make voluntary efforts to save power this summer. For details, please direct your questions to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Q&As

• Japan-China-ROK relations

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I have a question regarding the China-ROK summit meeting. Both leaders, while refraining from explicit finger pointing, warned Japan in relation to the issue of the understanding of history. What are your thoughts regarding this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I am aware of this matter you have just noted based on news reports. Japan would like to refrain from going into the details of how it assesses exchanges between third countries. Speaking on this basis, Japan's view on past history remains unchanged from what has been explained before, and we will continue to make efforts to have this view understood. This region is faced with a variety of issues pertaining to peace and stability, including the North Korea issue. We believe it is important that countries in this region overcome differences over their respective positions and work to tackle these issues.

REPORTER: Related to this, I believe it is essential that Japan maintains relations and partnerships with both countries in order to resolve these issues, including the North Korea issue. How do you intend to improve relations with both countries, including with respect to the issue of the understanding of history?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: In the latest Joint Communiqu? (issued by China and the ROK), both countries assessed that the cooperation among the three countries of the ROK, China, and Japan plays a critical role in the development of each of these countries and of course in ensuring peace and mutual prosperity in Northeast Asia. In this context, both countries affirmed that the trilateral cooperation structure must be developed in a stable manner, and announced that both countries will make efforts to hold a successful 6th trilateral summit meeting this year. I believe both countries affirmed our stance, which is that the three countries are important to one another.

(Abridged)