Jun Azumi, Japan’s finance minister, will take a senior position in the country’s governing Democratic Party, although he will continue with ministerial duties until a replacement has been named.
Reuters reported Monday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made the announcement, saying that Azumi will become acting secretary general of the party. Noda also announced that Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, who currently oversees the response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011, will also be taking a new position. He will become the party’s chief of policy.
Noda said in the report, “I have decided on new positions for both Azumi and Hosono, but I have informed both ministers that they are to carry out their duties until their replacements have been decided to avoid a vacuum.”
Despite the fact that Noda is naming a new finance minister, it is unlikely to be a sign of a shift in his policy. Noda has been firm on the need for additional fiscal discipline, and Japan has been pursuing measures to slow the appreciation of the yen. The switch in personnel is not believed to signal a departure from either approach.