The Cabinet next Tuesday will appoint Tadao Ando, 63, former superintendent general of the Metropolitan Police Department, as Japan's first crisis management administrator, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Wednesday.
The post was created by the Administrative Reform Council, a government panel headed by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, as part of efforts to strengthen the functions of the Cabinet in times of emergency, Muraoka told a regular news conference. The Diet on Tuesday approved a revision to the Cabinet Law to allow for creation of the post. The new administrator will be charged with coordinating the tasks of Cabinet Secretariat divisions to help the Cabinet deal with emergencies in a swift and more appropriate manner, according to officials.