The new Cabinet lineup announced Tuesday shows where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is placing his emphasis, such as the North Korean abductions, education and various reforms, and he wants his closest allies working in those areas.
A typical example is his appointment of former Senior Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki as chief Cabinet secretary, the post often called "the wife of the prime minister." He will also be a minister in charge of abduction issues.
Shiozaki, 55, is one of Abe's closest colleagues and a member of a study group called NAIS, whose name comes from the first letter of four close politicians -- Takumi Nemoto, appointed as a special adviser to the prime minister in charge of fiscal policies, Abe, Nobuteru Ishihara, who was assigned Monday as secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Shiozaki.