Prime Minister Naoto Kan launched his third Cabinet on Friday in the hope of making it his "most powerful" for enacting reforms, but questions abound about how effective the new team will be.
In explaining his new picks, Kan told reporters, "I reshuffled the Cabinet with the aim of creating maximum power for overcoming the crisis (facing Japan)."
With a mountain of problems, including an economic slump, financial strains on the social security system, money-tainted politics and a divided Diet, Kan is hoping that removing Upper House-censured Yoshito Sengoku from the equation will help turn the odds in favor of his Democratic Party of Japan and draw more cooperation from the opposition camp.