Akira Amari, minister for economic and fiscal policy, has so much on his plate that all of his titles don't fit on his business card. He's also the minister in charge of economic revitalization and reforming social security and taxes, and the head negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.
Sitting in his central Tokyo office across the street from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office, Amari furrowed his brow as he considered his challenge: overturning decades-old regulations and spurring investment to revive the world's third-biggest economy.
Abe, whose Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in a landslide December election victory, is unleashing the most sweeping overhaul in a generation to end 15 years of deflation and spark growth. He announced a ¥10.3 trillion spending boost in January. In April, Haruhiko Kuroda, his handpicked Bank of Japan governor, pledged unprecedented monetary easing to double the amount of money circulating in the economy.