Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised that his new Cabinet, unveiled Wednesday, will place a high priority on the social and economic concerns of prefectural and other governments across the nation worried about depopulation and their widening economic gap with Tokyo.
But his appointment of political rival Shigeru Ishiba to the brand new post of minister in charge of regional revitalization has raised both hopes and concerns at the local level, since it is a new organization.
One key question is whether Ishiba and his new office will end up in a turf war with the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which has traditionally dealt with some of the issues Ishiba is expected to handle.